TOKYO: New Japanese Justice Minister MAKIHARA Hideki admitted Tuesday that he and his secretary have attended events related to the Unification Church a total of 37 times.

Such ties between Makihara and the controversial religious group had not been confirmed in a survey by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 2022.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Makihara said he reported his ties with the group to the party in February 2023. “I was not able to prepare accurate information in time for the deadline (of the survey) due to a huge schedule at the time,” he noted.

Following the new revelation, Junya Ogawa, secretary-general of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said at a separate press conference that the Unification Church ties were “extremely inappropriate.”

Fumitake Fujita, secretary-general of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), demanded that the minister fulfill his accountability.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Keiichiro Tachibana said that the government has no plans to investigate the ties.

JIJI Press