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5/ As this photo from a magazine article shows, Abe had ties to a sizable list of religious organizations. Like many democracies around the world, Japan is a country in which conservative religious groups support conservative politicians. twitter.com/B4Btv/status/1…
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7/ Japanese police/media are facing a very unpleasant situation. If they report the details of what the shooter is saying, it could increase hate towards a specific group, towards all new religious movements, and/or towards foreigners. twitter.com/mclaughlin_lev…
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8/ The Abe assassination is a shocking event for Japan - the most famous politician in the country has been killed. Regardless of what the assassin says or what the media reports, such an event will be a major topic for conspiracy theorists (think JFK or 911).
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9/ The vague wording being used by police/media is probably meant to avoid discrimination against that group. However, this will also fuel conspiratorial beliefs that the group in question has power over the Japanese government and media, and is covering-up the truth.
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15/ On January 6, 2021 I filmed a "Stop the Steal" march in Tokyo. Organizers and participants in such marches were associated with several new religious organizations - including Falun Gong, Happy Science, and the Sanctuary Church. twitter.com/mrjeffu/status…
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16/ An article from Shūkan Bunshun dropped more details: the suspect's mother was a member of a religious group, but he left it to join a sect that was in conflict with the original group. No names, but it sounds like it could be the Sanctuary Church. twitter.com/NathanielMSmit…
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20/ As @NathanielMSmith has noted, if the suspect was a member of the Sanctuary Church, his possession of a gun makes more sense. According to this 2018 Vice News report, its members "believe they need guns to build God's Kingdom on Earth." youtube.com/watch?v=ArfGyo…
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29/ It's out! Gendai Business has reported the suspect's mother was a member of the Unification Church: news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6b0e3…
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30/ A quote from the suspect: "I targeted Abe because he's friendly with the Unification Church" 「統一教会と安倍が親しいので狙った。」Also a quote from the suspect stating that the motive was "not political." This makes no sense because Abe's ties to the church were political.
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A Japanese media outlet has broken the silence and released the name of the religious group that Abe's assassin has a grudge against. It's the Unification Church. twitter.com/mrjeffu/status…
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An interesting decision to drop it late a night- now that the floodgates have been opened and the "open secret" has finally been published, starting tomorrow we can expect other Japanese media outlets to finally start reporting on the Unification Church's ties to Abe and the LDP.
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Kishi Nobusuke shaking hands with Unification Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon (1973). LDP/Church cooperation has carried on until the present day. On Friday a man who reportedly held a grudge against the Unification Church assassinated Kishi's grandson, Abe Shinzo.
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The Abe shooting suspect built his own firearms in a one room apartment. The sound of the machinery was very loud and neighbors reported it to the building management company, which responded by...putting fliers into every mailbox asking residents to be quiet and considerate.
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Time to stop hiding the truth, mainstream Japanese media: the Washington Post has confirmed the suspect's mother is a member of the Unification Church. (I was interviewed for this article.) twitter.com/mrjeffu/status…
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It's about time. More people need to pay attention to the importance of religious groups in Japan. This time the Unification Church is in the news, but it is hardly the only religious organization that participates in Japan's political system. twitter.com/UnseenJapanSit…
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A #JapanPolitics thread: The assassination of former Prime Minister Abe has led to greater attention to the controversial relationship between conservative Japanese politicians and religious groups, particularly the Unification Church. Let's look at what is being reported... 1/
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A #JapanPolitics thread (Part 2): The assassination of former Prime Minister Abe has led to greater attention to the controversial relationship between conservative Japanese politicians and the Unification Church. Let's look at what is being reported...
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As Japanese conservative politicians scramble to cut or downplay ties to the Unification Church, Donald Trump and Mike Pence both spoke via video to a Unification Church UFP summit held in Korea this week. twitter.com/cult_and_fraud…
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Japan won. You may have laughed at this photo, but the otter was right. The otter was right. twitter.com/PopulismUpdate…
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When Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, the next day was declared a national holiday. No such luck following Japan's victory over Germany. Everyone has to go to work today. The phrase "supposed to be a holiday" (祝日のはず) is trending in the sports category on Twitter Japan.
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Osaka's Tennōji Zoo held a training exercise today to prepare staff for the possibility of a lion escape. As you can see from this NHK news video, they put great effort into making it very realistic.
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Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Sugita Mio was asked if she wrote a blog post bashing Ainu and Zainichi Korean women who were fighting against discrimination. Her answer was pretty much: "Yes, but I wasn't a lawmaker at the time." twitter.com/JapanPoliticsC…
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It was a 2016 blog post about the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in Geneva, calling the women "old female cosplayers in ethnic costumes." Here's a Mainichi article in English about it her other hateful online posts: mainichi.jp/english/articl…
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Sugita was also pressed to apologize or take back anti-LGBT statements she had made. Sugita said she had no intention of discriminating and refused to apologize.
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Video of fans in Shibuya celebrating Japan's World Cup victory over Spain. It looked like Japan had very little chance to advance to the next round, but they once again surprised the world:
PhD. Special Lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies. Japan's Politics/Nationalist Activism/History Disputes/Pop Culture. RT/Likes ≠ endorsements