TOKYO (AP) — A controversial South Korean church with powerful political connections faces dissolution in Japan after a Tokyo court ordered a revokation of its legal status after the government accused it of manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.
The Tokyo District court's ruling would end the Unification Church's tax-exempt status in Japan and force it to liquidate its assets. The church said it is considering an immediate appeal to the country's highest court.
The Unification Church has faced hundreds of lawsuits in Japan from families who say that it manipulated members into draining their savings to make donations, but for decades it largely escaped official scrutiny and maintained close links with the governing Liberal Democratic Party.
That changed in 2022, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. The man accused of shooting Abe allegedly was motivated by the former prime minister’s links to the church and blamed it for bankrupting his family. The killing drew public attention and prompted investigations into the church's practices and its links to powerful politicians.
The church was founded in Seoul in 1954, a year after the end of the Korean War, by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who preached new interpretations of the Bible and conservative, family-oriented value systems.
The church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, champions anti-communism and the unification of the Korean Peninsula, which has been split between the totalitarian North and democratic South.
The church is perhaps best known for mass weddings where it paired off couples, often from different countries, and renewed the vows of those already married, at places like stadiums and gymnasiums. The group is said to have a global membership of millions, including hundreds of thousands in Japan.
The church faced accusations in the 1970s and '80s of using devious recruitment tactics and brainwashing adherents into turning over huge portions of their salaries to Moon. The church has denied the allegations, saying many new religious movements face similar accusations in their early years.
Experts say Japanese followers are asked to pay for sins committed by their ancestors during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, and that the majority of the church’s worldwide funding comes from Japan.
The Education Ministry asked a Tokyo court to dissolve the church in October 2023, accusing it of trying to steer its followers’ decision-making, using manipulative tactics, making them buy expensive goods and donate beyond their financial ability, and causing fear and harm to them and their families.
On Tuesday, the Tokyo District court granted the request, writing that the church's problems were extensive and continuous, and a dissolution order is necessary because it is not likely it could voluntarily reform, according to NHK television.
The Unification Church is the first religious group to face a revocation order under Japan’s civil code. Two earlier case involved criminal charges — the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.
The Japanese branch of the church has criticized the request as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers. In a statement Tuesday, it called the court order “truely regrettable” and “unjust,” adding that the decision is based on “a wrong legal interpretation and absolutely unacceptable.”
The 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and subsequent investigations unearthed decades of cozy ties between the Unification Church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party and triggered public outrage.
The man accused of shooting Abe at a campaign event allegedly told police he was motivated by the former prime minister’s links to the church, which he said bankrupted his family due to his mother’s excessive donations.
Abe was known for his arch-conservative views on security and history issues and appeared at events organized by church affiliates.
Throughout his life, Moon worked to make his church into a worldwide religious movement and expand its business and charitable activities. Moon was convicted of tax evasion in 1982 and served a prison term in New York. He died in 2012.
The church has developed relations with conservative world leaders including U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and more recently Donald Trump.
Moon also had ties with North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un.
Moon said in his autobiography that he asked Kim to give up his nuclear ambitions, and that Kim responded that his atomic program was for peaceful purposes and he had no intention to use it to “kill (Korean) compatriots.”
Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed.
Nobuya Fukumoto, foreground center, a lawyer for the Unification Church, is surrounded by reporters after the church was ordered dissolved by the Tokyo District Court, in front of the court in Tokyo Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
The entrance of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is seen on Nov. 7, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)
MIAMI (AP) — Some fans cheered his introduction. Many jeered him. And whenever he got the ball over the next four quarters, there was plenty of booing from all sides of the arena.
In the end, Jimmy Butler's return to Miami couldn't have gone better for the Heat.
The Heat paid tribute to Butler’s 5½ seasons with the team with a pregame video on Tuesday night, shown in the arena as part of the introduction of the Golden State Warriors’ starting lineup for the game. Those were about the only highlights for the Warriors, with Butler scoring 11 points in a 112-86 loss.
“I got a lot of love for this city, for the fanbase here,” Butler said afterward. “The video was nice. I won't say there was a lot of emotions, though.”
Butler appeared to watch the roughly 40-second pregame video, as he said he would, though added that it didn’t matter to him whether the Heat did one or not. He got the full-throated introduction from Heat public-address announcer Michael Baiamonte — “Jim ... my ... Butlerrrrr” — just as he did when he played for Miami and waved to acknowledge the sounds from the stands.
It was unusual, though. And it did take Butler a couple extra seconds to figure out where to go when he arrived at the arena.
“I was confused,” Butler said. “Haven't been on this side in a minute.”
He’s insisting that there’s no hard feelings between he and the Heat now, a month and a half after he was traded to the Warriors following a contentious breakup that saw him suspended by Miami three times in his final weeks with the team.
The video included a slew of Butler's highlights from the Heat era, including the iconic image of him, exhausted, slumped over a courtside barrier during a game in the NBA bubble in 2020.
“The energy in the building was great," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “If you’re a competitor, you love this kind of environment. We didn’t do any kind of extra motivational speech.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr might not necessarily believe that.
“I think the main part of Jimmy's return was the Heat were ready, and Spo had them ready,” Kerr said.
It was an important game for the Heat, who are fighting to regain standings ground that was lost in a 10-game losing streak that ended earlier this week. And it was one of their most inspired efforts of the season, never trailing, holding the Warriors to 40% shooting and connecting on a wild 68% of their 3-point tries.
“Was this like a regular game? Yeah, I think so,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “The circumstances, who was coming in here, we were ready a little more. But for me, it was a regular game.”
Butler wasn’t happy with the Heat over not getting an extension and had issues with his role in the final weeks of his time there. The Heat weren’t happy with how he missed about 25% of their games during his tenure with the club and how he took his complaints public in the final months.
Butler got his extension — two years, $111 million — from the Warriors, and Golden State is now 16-4 in his first 20 appearances. In fairness, two of those four losses, including Tuesday's loss, came with Stephen Curry out of the Warriors' lineup.
“We definitely need 30 back,” Butler said, referring to Curry by his jersey number. “We want him to be right. We're still expected to put up a better effort than we put up the last two games. But if he's back, I think it's going to be different.”
Fans, as they tend to be when a top player leaves their team, have not been shy about hiding their anger with Butler on social media. Butler knows things didn’t end well in his Miami tenure, though notes that he believes there’s more than enough blame to go around for the messy breakup.
“I wonder if they look at the Heat the same way,” Butler said. “It ain’t like I was the one who was doing everything. It’s got to be 50-50, maybe 51-49 — 49 towards them, 51 towards me. But there’s no way that I was the cause of all of this.”
Butler wound up being suspended for a total of 14 Heat games before the trade. But the Heat have a tradition of welcoming back players who were All-Stars or champions with the team; Butler was an All-Star in Miami who led the team to three Eastern Conference finals berths and two trips to the NBA Finals.
He was booed when he touched the ball after the game started, though there were some cheers when he scored Golden State's first basket of the contest. Not much else went Butler's way, and when the final buzzer sounded he greeted a couple friends courtside before heading toward the Warriors' locker room.
The Warriors have an off day in Miami on Wednesday, giving Butler another day with his kids — the family is still in South Florida — before his team leaves for New Orleans on Thursday.
“This one's over with,” Butler said. “Put it behind us, go eat some food and enjoy the sunshine tomorrow.”
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Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket as Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler hugs former teammate Miami Heat forward Kevin Love before the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Golden State Warriors forwards Jimmy Butler (10) and Draymond Green (23) talk during a time out in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Miami Heat fan Arlene Hernandez jeers former player and current Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, left and members of the team look up from the sidelines during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler arrives at the Kaseya Center for an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler arrives at the Kaseya Center for an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
