The government is ramping up its scrutiny of the controversial Unification Church, launching an investigation into how the organization is run and whether it has violated the law by mediating adoptions among its followers.

The education ministry sent questions on the management and financial status of the Unification Church to the organization on Tuesday, another step toward stripping the group of its “religious corporation” status that brings tax benefits.

“We would like to make clear what the truth is based on evidence and documents, information from relevant sources, as well as the investigation we will conduct,” education minister Keiko Nagaoka said in a news conference earlier in the day.

The ministry set a deadline of Dec. 9 for the religious group, which is now formally named the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, to respond.

It is the first time the education ministry has launched an investigation into a religious group since such probes became possible under a 1995 revision to the religious corporation law.

If the ministry believes it has enough evidence of wrongdoing, it will then ask a court to decide whether the Unification Church should be stripped of its religious corporation status.

While the group would be able to continue religious activities without the status, it would not be granted the associated tax benefits and its credibility would likely take a major hit.

Separately, health minister Katsunobu Kato said Tuesday that the health ministry and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government have sent a letter to the Unification Church containing questions regarding its alleged practice of mediating adoptions among its followers.

The church has helped some followers adopt the children of fellow believers, and authorities will investigate whether those acts violated the law.

The group is required to respond by Dec. 5 to the questions. Among other things, authorities are looking to find out how many cases of adoption there were and whether money was involved, as well as obtain documents on those cases.

According to the adoption agency law, organizations acting as an adoption agency need to register with the relevant prefectural authorities. If the Unification Church has been mediating adoption among its followers on a regular basis, it may be in violation of the law even if it did not receive money for doing so.

The Unification Church has admitted to media outlets that there have been 745 adoptions among followers since 1981, but it has denied conducting this systematically like an agency.

Sayuri Ogawa, whose parents are Unification Church followers, said in a meeting with lawmakers last week that her three younger siblings were offered to other followers for adoption. One of them returned within months, she said.

“The identity of the adopted child collapses (when they realize) they were born for the sake of the religious group,” said Ogawa, who is using a pseudonym. “Their human rights are ignored and that’s a huge problem.”

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/11/22/national/unification-church-management-adoptions/