“Why the Japanese media has refused to identify the ‘religious group’ that formed the motive for the killing must remain as speculation at this juncture, though it reflects very poorly on Japan’s status as a democratic nation.”
It’s important to note that the Japanese media is not monolithic.
It’s true that the major newspapers (Asahi, Yomiuri, Mainichi, Nikkei, etc.) and the broadcaster NHK do not, as of this moment, seem to have named the religious group yet; nor do they seem to have explained why they are not naming it.
However, the group is named in online news stories by some of the weekly magazines [1, 2, 3] and will presumably be in their print editions within a few days. It’s all over Twitter etc., too.
It was explained to me when I lived in Japan, that while there are many Japanese media companies that exist independently in Japan, they all have to go to one central government body to renew their licenses to exist. They get some leeway but it's it's not much
If you are interested in the media in Japan and how it chooses to report or not report news I recommend the book "Exposure: Inside the Olympus Scandal". It tells the story of loss hiding at Olympus. Especially interesting are the chapters about how difficult it was to get any news coverage of some extremely suspicious things.
Lots of information tends to be "widely known" online to those who care to dig, but the mainstream outlets stick to some narrative that is best described as "half truth".
> The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church or Unificationism, is a new religious movement whose members are called Unificationists and sometimes colloquially Moonies.[2] It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea by Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), a Korean Messiah claimant also known for his business ventures and engagement in social and political causes.[3][4][5][6]
> The beliefs of the Unification Church are based on Moon's book Divine Principle, which differs from the teachings of Nicene Christianity in its view of Jesus[7] and in its introduction of the concept of "indemnity".[8] The movement is well known for its unique "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies.[9]
> The Unification Church has been controversial, with some early critics calling it a dangerous cult.[10][11] It also has been controversial for its involvement in politics, which include anti-communism and support for Korean reunification.
Seems to me to be good policy not to discuss anything about assassins' motives, names or show photos to avoid accidentally glorifying the act or encouraging others who want to get attention. Why is the silence assumed to be a cover up instead of proper media etiquette?
It's also quite chauvinist to suggest that the major newspapers cannot arrive at the same conclusion about disclosure independently, and pretty ignorant to imply that suppressing information is inconsistent with democracy.
This is a lot of words for the basic conjecture that he was killed by/for being a moonie.
The problem with this reporting is that it takes the killer's supposed words at face value. This is a big risk, especially as at this stage we are not entirely certain that those words are accurate.
Now, this may eventually appear to be the case, but the level of certainty presented in this article is unfounded.
This article is within the more general context, but we have the words of the assassin, discussion by the police of not wanting to discuss the church specifically for the “obvious” reasons, the mother of the assassin being identified by the church as being a member… “it happened because of X” is maybe very strong but lots of the story does align and is being corroborated.
The problem is also the title. It treats the killer as a non-agent with no free will, and is an implicit justification of political violence. "The crime that killed Abe" is known as "homicide", not "predecessor's political decisions".
The Moonies, often represented in America by some unfortunate Korean boy or girl, beg for money at American universities in exchange for food and lodging. It's essentially human trafficking and indentured servitude because they're trapped in a foreign country.
So, if see someone who doesn't speak English who shoved a photo montage flip book clipboard of deprivation in front of you, think twice before giving them money because you'd be supporting the late George Bush Sr's 2nd-favorite cult.
They also own The Washington Times and United Press International (UPI).
And True World Foods, which runs a major portion of the sushi trade in the US.
Numerous other innocent-sounding organizations in many, many sports, interest groups, and industries.
Nobusuke Kishi (Abe's grandfather) has an extremely interesting backstory:
> As a self-described "playboy of the Eastern world", Kishi was known during his four years in Manchukuo for his lavish spending amid much drinking, gambling, and womanizing.[34] Kishi spent almost all of his time in Manchukuo's capital, Hsinking (modern Changchun, China) with the exception of monthly trips to Dalian on the world famous Asia Express railroad line, where he indulged in his passion for women in alcohol- and sex-drenched weekends.[29] When not visiting the brothels of Manchuria, Kishi was demanding sex from the waitresses who served him at the expensive restaurants he patronized. When he was locked up in Sugamo prison in 1946 awaiting trial, he reminisced about his Manchukuo years: “I came so much, it was hard to clean it all up”.[29] According to Driscoll, "photographs and written descriptions of Kishi during this period never fail to depict a giddy exuberance: laughing and joking while doling out money during the day and looking forward to drinking and fornicating at night."[35] Kishi was able to afford his hedonistic, free-spending lifestyle as he had control over millions of yen with virtually no oversight, alongside being deeply involved in and profiting from the opium trade.[30] Before returning to Japan in October 1939, Kishi is reported to have advised his colleagues in the Manchukuo government about corruption: "Political funds should be accepted only after they have passed through a 'filter' and been 'cleansed'. If a problem arises, the 'filter' itself will then become the center of the affair, while the politician, who has consumed the 'clean water', will not be implicated. Political funds become the basis of corruption scandals only when they have not been sufficiently 'filtered.'"[4]
> At the same time, Kishi repeatedly expressed a disdain for Chinese people as impure and unclean.[32] One of Kishi's closest friends and business partners, the yakuza gangster Yoshio Kodama, summed up his boss's thinking about the Chinese as follows: "We Japanese are like pure water in a bucket; different from the Chinese who are like the filthy Yangtze river. But be careful. If even the smallest amount of shit gets into our bucket, we become totally polluted. Since all the toilets in China empty into the Yangtze, the Chinese are soiled forever. We, however, must maintain our purity".[33]
The article ends implying the Japanese media is wrong by downplaying and leaving out the name of the church, but when I was reading more on wikipedia about the Unification Church they referenced this article from the media, which I will need to translate but would seem to refute this:
Japanese people I know are adamant that Abe had no ties or did ever voice support for the Moon sect, ever. I am now wondering if Abe had kept it secret and the shooter somehow found out.
If the cult ruined his life and he took it out on the first politician he could somehow link to them, the problem is not whether such politician really had such relationship, but the fact that such idea was credible in the first place. Are cults in Japan tolerated a bit too much, leaving them free to ruin's people lives? Are politicians just sitting by, or even enabling such cults? Those should be the questions people have to ask, if the aim is to avoid a repeat. This is particularly true when you look at the fact that such cults were directly responsible for past terrorist activity in Japan.
I read he gave a speech there once. Maybe the killer heard about it and, combined with whatever mental illness he has, interpreted it as something more than it was.
I find it remarkable that on the surface I now know of three G7 countries / liberal democracies where the PM/President is the (grand)son of a PM/President himself.
Bush Sr - Bush Jr
Pierre Trudeau - Justin Trudeau
Nobusuke Kishi - (Shintaro Abe; FM) - Shinzo Abe
[Honorary mention: France with "Le Pen" both father & daughter made it to the second round in the presidential elections (2002; 2017 and 2022)]
It's a disturbing trend and indicative of failing health / vibrancy of political systems. Same with running Hilary Clinton.
Half of the entire point of the democratic turn in western states after the enlightenment and the French revolution was to attempt take power away from powerful families and abolish heritable power.
I found it very alarming when Trudeau Jr was plucked out of relative obscurity and turned into a political figure here, and I found it quite absurd that he won with hardly any experience or qualification beyond his family name.
Especially when the other centre-left opposition candidate at the time (Mulcair&the NDP) was very strong, an extremely competent opposition leader with strong support in Quebec, a long political history and a strong base, and the NDP were polling in majority territory prior to (and in the early part) the election. Honestly, I'm still bitter about that election and its results. I think it's actually turned out disastrous for Canada.
This happens all over the world. The new president of Philippines is the son of a former president. In Pakistan two members of the Bhutto family have been PM and another was president. In Chile there was the Allende family, in America there is the Kennedys and the Clintons and dozens more examples below the presidency.
I don't think it should be surprising that politicians can have family members who also make a career in politics. The same thing happens with public figures like actors, musicians and sports people. But it also happens with doctors and lawyers and soldiers and police and bakers and plumbers and hair stylists.
Although there are plenty of people who grow up to do something different from their parents, there is definitely motivation to "follow in the footsteps". If nothing else, you can probably leverage a built-in support network.
The question that's important for democracy is if it's possible for someone to break in to a political system if they are not a member of a pre-existing dynasty. So far I think in most countries that is still the case. Certainly it's better than feudal times.
Not a G7, but India notably is the most populous democracy in the world: Rajiv Gandhi, 6th Prime Minister of India, son of Indira Gandhi who was 3rd Prime Minister of India, who herself was daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the 1st prime minister of India.
Am I naive to believe that an article with such title would at least looked into assassins claims to begin with? Like how much was donated for starters, history of mental illnesses, gambling, and so on. Instead we start with Nixon and Kissinger
I would like to wait more for more information. This speculation seems incomplete and premature, and in the end, likely, inaccurate.
Political assassinations rarely stem from one particular situation or event, but accumulation of beliefs and world view over a long period of time. He may stated his disdain for Abe to be his connection with the religious organization, but that can easily be just one of many reasons that he believes have re-enforced him to commit assassination.
The assassin went through a lot of trouble and difficulty building his own gun and ammos. I think it's probably more likely that there's more political and ideological motivation behind his action than just Abe's roundabout connection to the church that ruined his mother. It's just too speculative and unlikely for now until there's more evidence.
"Why the Japanese media has refused to identify the 'religious group' that formed the motive for the killing must remain as speculation at this juncture, though it reflects very poorly on Japan’s status as a democratic nation."
I'm struggling to understand the author's bias here (there clearly is one), are they claiming that the poor reflection on Japan as a democracy is:
- that the media has not reported an unsubstantiated 'speculation'? (sounds like good journalism?)
- that that politicians have religious beliefs? (separation of religion and state shouldn't forbid religious people holding office, just from mandating it)
- that the murderer was anti-religiously motivated? (sign of a hate crime)
The 3rd I believe. The point of the article is to show Abe's connection to the church through political alliances developed since his grandfather and the Japanese media is at some level seeking to downplay the prevalence of anti-religious extremism.
They guy initially wanted to avenge the family’s misfortune by targeting someone high up in the church which he blamed for unscrupulously taking their money, when they proved too difficult (inaccessible) he turned his attention to mr Abe who was associated with the church and was out campaigning making for an easy target.
The article starts with an arc where a friendship two generations ago directly lead to a grandsons death. It’s a tool and trope for prose, but not apt for journalism.
It’d be like an article about mr Pelosi’s accident starting off with the Porsche company’s founding and how that eventually resulted in drunken driving accident by mr Pelosi.
There is lots to unpack and discover regarding the assassination of mr Abe but I feel this journalist is grinding some axe on the way there.
I don’t quite agree with amplifying the political or personal message of a murderer, as it seems like rewarding the act with publicity, encouraging more of it.
Shinzo Abe was associated with a religious group 'Church of Unification'... that motivated Tetsuya Yamagami to target and kill Shinzo Abe.
Yamagami told investigators that he blamed a “religious group” (i.e. the Unification Church) for inducing his mother to donate so much money that it bankrupted the family. He initially prepared to kill a church leader, but gave up after deciding it was too difficult. Yamagami then turned his focus on Abe, whom he was aware promoted the church at some level.
[+] [-] tkgally|3 years ago|reply
“Why the Japanese media has refused to identify the ‘religious group’ that formed the motive for the killing must remain as speculation at this juncture, though it reflects very poorly on Japan’s status as a democratic nation.”
It’s important to note that the Japanese media is not monolithic.
It’s true that the major newspapers (Asahi, Yomiuri, Mainichi, Nikkei, etc.) and the broadcaster NHK do not, as of this moment, seem to have named the religious group yet; nor do they seem to have explained why they are not naming it.
However, the group is named in online news stories by some of the weekly magazines [1, 2, 3] and will presumably be in their print editions within a few days. It’s all over Twitter etc., too.
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20220710064519/https://www.daily...
[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20220710061754/https://gendai.is...
[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20220710062542/https://news.yaho...
[+] [-] Larrikin|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] laurieg|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] giantg2|3 years ago|reply
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5296697/
[+] [-] hsn915|3 years ago|reply
Lots of information tends to be "widely known" online to those who care to dig, but the mainstream outlets stick to some narrative that is best described as "half truth".
[+] [-] brightball|3 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church
> The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church or Unificationism, is a new religious movement whose members are called Unificationists and sometimes colloquially Moonies.[2] It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea by Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), a Korean Messiah claimant also known for his business ventures and engagement in social and political causes.[3][4][5][6]
> The beliefs of the Unification Church are based on Moon's book Divine Principle, which differs from the teachings of Nicene Christianity in its view of Jesus[7] and in its introduction of the concept of "indemnity".[8] The movement is well known for its unique "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies.[9]
> The Unification Church has been controversial, with some early critics calling it a dangerous cult.[10][11] It also has been controversial for its involvement in politics, which include anti-communism and support for Korean reunification.
[+] [-] alsetmusic|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ETHisso2017|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] simonebrunozzi|3 years ago|reply
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church
[+] [-] krzyk|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] riedel|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tjpnz|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ignoramous|3 years ago|reply
[1] https://archive.is/4wu9v
[2] https://archive.is/xhOAW
[+] [-] twelfnight|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bamboozled|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hugh-avherald|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] KaiserPro|3 years ago|reply
The problem with this reporting is that it takes the killer's supposed words at face value. This is a big risk, especially as at this stage we are not entirely certain that those words are accurate.
Now, this may eventually appear to be the case, but the level of certainty presented in this article is unfounded.
[+] [-] rtpg|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kerryoco|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|3 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] nier|3 years ago|reply
They got the family situation wrong. Shintaro Abe is Nobusuke Kishi’s son-in-law not his son.
From Wikipedia:
> Shintaro Abe married Yoko Kishi [ja], daughter of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, in 1951.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintaro_Abe
[+] [-] samtheprogram|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cvccvroomvroom|3 years ago|reply
So, if see someone who doesn't speak English who shoved a photo montage flip book clipboard of deprivation in front of you, think twice before giving them money because you'd be supporting the late George Bush Sr's 2nd-favorite cult.
They also own The Washington Times and United Press International (UPI).
And True World Foods, which runs a major portion of the sushi trade in the US.
Numerous other innocent-sounding organizations in many, many sports, interest groups, and industries.
Net worth around $2 billion.
[+] [-] ETHisso2017|3 years ago|reply
> As a self-described "playboy of the Eastern world", Kishi was known during his four years in Manchukuo for his lavish spending amid much drinking, gambling, and womanizing.[34] Kishi spent almost all of his time in Manchukuo's capital, Hsinking (modern Changchun, China) with the exception of monthly trips to Dalian on the world famous Asia Express railroad line, where he indulged in his passion for women in alcohol- and sex-drenched weekends.[29] When not visiting the brothels of Manchuria, Kishi was demanding sex from the waitresses who served him at the expensive restaurants he patronized. When he was locked up in Sugamo prison in 1946 awaiting trial, he reminisced about his Manchukuo years: “I came so much, it was hard to clean it all up”.[29] According to Driscoll, "photographs and written descriptions of Kishi during this period never fail to depict a giddy exuberance: laughing and joking while doling out money during the day and looking forward to drinking and fornicating at night."[35] Kishi was able to afford his hedonistic, free-spending lifestyle as he had control over millions of yen with virtually no oversight, alongside being deeply involved in and profiting from the opium trade.[30] Before returning to Japan in October 1939, Kishi is reported to have advised his colleagues in the Manchukuo government about corruption: "Political funds should be accepted only after they have passed through a 'filter' and been 'cleansed'. If a problem arises, the 'filter' itself will then become the center of the affair, while the politician, who has consumed the 'clean water', will not be implicated. Political funds become the basis of corruption scandals only when they have not been sufficiently 'filtered.'"[4]
> At the same time, Kishi repeatedly expressed a disdain for Chinese people as impure and unclean.[32] One of Kishi's closest friends and business partners, the yakuza gangster Yoshio Kodama, summed up his boss's thinking about the Chinese as follows: "We Japanese are like pure water in a bucket; different from the Chinese who are like the filthy Yangtze river. But be careful. If even the smallest amount of shit gets into our bucket, we become totally polluted. Since all the toilets in China empty into the Yangtze, the Chinese are soiled forever. We, however, must maintain our purity".[33]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi
[+] [-] Herodotus38|3 years ago|reply
https://gendai.ismedia.jp/articles/-/97322
For those who are in Japan is that a good take by the author of the submitted article? Is (edit: it fair to say) the media hiding the connection?
[+] [-] suction|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toyg|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hackerlight|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rtpg|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fomine3|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ssnistfajen|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] florin_g|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dav_Oz|3 years ago|reply
I find it remarkable that on the surface I now know of three G7 countries / liberal democracies where the PM/President is the (grand)son of a PM/President himself.
Bush Sr - Bush Jr
Pierre Trudeau - Justin Trudeau
Nobusuke Kishi - (Shintaro Abe; FM) - Shinzo Abe
[Honorary mention: France with "Le Pen" both father & daughter made it to the second round in the presidential elections (2002; 2017 and 2022)]
[+] [-] cmrdporcupine|3 years ago|reply
Half of the entire point of the democratic turn in western states after the enlightenment and the French revolution was to attempt take power away from powerful families and abolish heritable power.
I found it very alarming when Trudeau Jr was plucked out of relative obscurity and turned into a political figure here, and I found it quite absurd that he won with hardly any experience or qualification beyond his family name.
Especially when the other centre-left opposition candidate at the time (Mulcair&the NDP) was very strong, an extremely competent opposition leader with strong support in Quebec, a long political history and a strong base, and the NDP were polling in majority territory prior to (and in the early part) the election. Honestly, I'm still bitter about that election and its results. I think it's actually turned out disastrous for Canada.
[+] [-] alisonatwork|3 years ago|reply
I don't think it should be surprising that politicians can have family members who also make a career in politics. The same thing happens with public figures like actors, musicians and sports people. But it also happens with doctors and lawyers and soldiers and police and bakers and plumbers and hair stylists.
Although there are plenty of people who grow up to do something different from their parents, there is definitely motivation to "follow in the footsteps". If nothing else, you can probably leverage a built-in support network.
The question that's important for democracy is if it's possible for someone to break in to a political system if they are not a member of a pre-existing dynasty. So far I think in most countries that is still the case. Certainly it's better than feudal times.
[+] [-] stevenjgarner|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AzzieElbab|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jsnk|3 years ago|reply
Political assassinations rarely stem from one particular situation or event, but accumulation of beliefs and world view over a long period of time. He may stated his disdain for Abe to be his connection with the religious organization, but that can easily be just one of many reasons that he believes have re-enforced him to commit assassination.
The assassin went through a lot of trouble and difficulty building his own gun and ammos. I think it's probably more likely that there's more political and ideological motivation behind his action than just Abe's roundabout connection to the church that ruined his mother. It's just too speculative and unlikely for now until there's more evidence.
[+] [-] g5095|3 years ago|reply
I'm struggling to understand the author's bias here (there clearly is one), are they claiming that the poor reflection on Japan as a democracy is:
- that the media has not reported an unsubstantiated 'speculation'? (sounds like good journalism?)
- that that politicians have religious beliefs? (separation of religion and state shouldn't forbid religious people holding office, just from mandating it)
- that the murderer was anti-religiously motivated? (sign of a hate crime)
[+] [-] unknown|3 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] shard972|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mc32|3 years ago|reply
They guy initially wanted to avenge the family’s misfortune by targeting someone high up in the church which he blamed for unscrupulously taking their money, when they proved too difficult (inaccessible) he turned his attention to mr Abe who was associated with the church and was out campaigning making for an easy target.
The article starts with an arc where a friendship two generations ago directly lead to a grandsons death. It’s a tool and trope for prose, but not apt for journalism.
It’d be like an article about mr Pelosi’s accident starting off with the Porsche company’s founding and how that eventually resulted in drunken driving accident by mr Pelosi.
There is lots to unpack and discover regarding the assassination of mr Abe but I feel this journalist is grinding some axe on the way there.
[+] [-] enqk|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|3 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] achow|3 years ago|reply
Shinzo Abe was associated with a religious group 'Church of Unification'... that motivated Tetsuya Yamagami to target and kill Shinzo Abe.
Yamagami told investigators that he blamed a “religious group” (i.e. the Unification Church) for inducing his mother to donate so much money that it bankrupted the family. He initially prepared to kill a church leader, but gave up after deciding it was too difficult. Yamagami then turned his focus on Abe, whom he was aware promoted the church at some level.
[+] [-] duxup|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] samatman|3 years ago|reply
Are they affiliated with communism? North Korea? American progressive movements? None of the above?
Do we know that this isn't two cults bickering?
[+] [-] tbihl|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spurgu|3 years ago|reply
https://archive.ph/2S6PD
[+] [-] unknown|3 years ago|reply
[deleted]