139: The Church, the State and Kishida's headache

<div>When former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot earlier this year, the incident shone a spotlight on the links his fellow Liberal Democratic Party members had with the controversial Unification Church. <strong>Kanako Takahara</strong> joins this week’s Deep Dive to discuss what’s behind a new bill regulating faith-driven donations, investigations into the church and whether these actions will be enough to save Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s job. <br> <br> Hosted by <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/shaun-mckenna/">Shaun McKenna</a> and produced by <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/david-cortez/">Dave Cortez</a>. <br> <br> <strong>On this episode:</strong> <br> Kanako Takahara: <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/int-kanako_takahara/">Articles</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/jt_takahara">Twitter</a><br> <br> <strong>Read more/Watch more:</strong> <br> <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/08/02/national/japan-politics-religion-ties/">In Japan, ties between politics and religion run deep</a> (Will Fee, The Japan Times)<br> <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/10/27/national/unification-church-faith-manipulation/">Faith or manipulation? Debate grows over regulating Unification Church tactics</a> (Tomoko Otake, The Japan Times)<br> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbJvAN5RhnA">Escaping the clutches of a cult</a> (The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan)<br> <br> <strong>Get in touch:</strong> <br> Send us feedback at deepdive@japantimes.co.jp. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. And don’t forget to follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/japandeepdive?lang=en">Twitter</a>! For a transcript of the show, head to <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/podcast_category/deep-dive/">japantimes.co.jp</a>.<br> <br> <strong>Photo:</strong> <br> <em>A former follower of the Unification Church who goes by the pseudonym Sayuri Ogawa speaks to reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. |