Former environment minister Yoshiaki Harada is pictured in this image from Peace TV, a site run by the Unification Church.
TOKYO -- Former environment minister Yoshiaki Harada has become the de facto leader of a group aiming to link Japan's Kyushu region and South Korea via an undersea tunnel, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned -- spotlighting his connections with the Unification Church.
Harada, 79, a member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), became acting chairman of the Kyushu liaison council for the Japan-Korea tunnel project in June 2023. The tunnel is said to have been advocated by Sun Myung Moon, the late founder of the Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Harada, whose close connections with the Unification Church had often been noted in the past, has expressed his gratitude to the religious group for "taking care" of him during past election campaigning.
The finding comes on the heels of the Nov. 3 naming of Harada among the recipients of Japan's autumn decorations this year. Harada is being honored for his "many years of service as a member of the Diet, fulfilling important responsibilities in the deliberation of bills and participating in important state affairs as Minister of the Environment." Emperor Naruhito is due to present him with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, the top decoration to be conferred this season, at the Imperial Palace on Nov. 8.
The entrance to an inclined shaft dug to examine boring of an undersea tunnel is seen in this photo taken from a Mainichi Shimbun helicopter, in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, in November 2022. (Mainichi/Takashi Kamiiriki)
The Kyushu liaison council for the Japan-Korea tunnel, or Nikkan Tunnel, was founded in 2015. Its members include experts and businesspeople from the Kyushu region who have met for symposiums and social gatherings relating to the tunnel project. Harada told the Mainichi Shimbun, "It's true that people related to the church have been leading the whole (council), like a kind of secretariat."
Moon is said to have proposed the project in 1981. The plan was to build an undersea tunnel from Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, to South Korea via the Nagasaki Prefecture islands of Iki and Tsushima. The Mainichi Shimbun has learned that the International Highway Foundation associated with the Unification Church has acquired land along the tunnel route.
According to Harada, the liaison council held a general meeting in Fukuoka in June 2023, and Chisato Kajiyama, 83, former president of Kyushu University, stepped down as chairman of the council, citing age and other reasons. No successor was selected, so it was decided that Harada would be acting chairman, and that he would take on core management duties for the time being. Harada commented, "I think the Japan-Korea tunnel can become a national project transcending religion. I'd like to talk with others in the council about future management of the organization."
Harada is a former member of the House of Representatives who was first elected in 1990 as representative for the former Kanagawa No. 2 electoral district. From the outset, he said he received help from the International Federation for Victory over Communism, a political group under the Unification Church, with campaign activities such as calling people and seeking their support, and that he is aware that he was elected "thanks to the help of the federation." Harada later moved to the Fukuoka No. 5 constituency, and was elected eight times, but lost in the 2021 lower house election.
(Mainichi)
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Oct. 12 this year that he would request a court order for the dissolution of the Unification Church, stating at the time, "The LDP's policy is to have absolutely no relations with the Unification Church or affiliated organizations." Kishida additionally stressed, "I understand that Diet members of the LDP have severed relations in line with this policy."
In response to this, Harada stated, "I'm no longer running in elections, so I frankly talk about the fact that I received help from the religious organization, and I decide myself how to handle my relations with others." He didn't disclose whether he supported or opposed the government's request to dissolve the Unification Church, merely saying, "I would like to keep an eye on the court's decision."
Attorney Katsuomi Abe, a member of the group Lawyers from Across Japan for the Victims of the Unification Church, commented, "The Japan-Korea tunnel project is impossible to achieve, and it has been used to collect donations for the religious group and make connections with local political and business circles. I'm surprised that someone who has served as a Cabinet minister is now heading a group promoting the project. He doesn't understand the significance of the fact that the government has confirmed the damage caused by the religious group and sought an order for its dissolution."
A Unification Church public relations official commented, "We as a religious corporation are not systematically involved in the management of friendly organizations." Regarding election support for Harada, the official responded, "Please ask the International Federation for Victory over Communism directly." The federation did not respond by the requested deadline.
Source Link: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20231106/p2a/00m/0na/010000c
