With media in Japan refusing to report key details about what motivated alleged assassin Tetsuya Yamagami to shoot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the people of Japan are taking to social media to fill in the gaps.
Jeffrey Hall, special lecturer in Japanese studies at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies, noted the growing online speculation that the group in question is the Unification Church, officially now known on the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification that was founded by Sun Myung Moon, whose members are known colloquially as "Moonies."
\u201c2/ Many social media users are filling in the blanks and guessing: one of the trending terms on Twitter in Japan is "Unification Church" - the name of a religious organization founded in Korea that had its Nara branch at the station where Abe was shot.\u201d— Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1657320487
“Japanese society is generally suspicious towards newer religious groups, the word ‘cult’ will be used quite often,” Hall told The Globe and Mail newspaper. “This kind of reporting, which may be motivated by a desire to prevent discrimination or by a desire to prevent an unfair impact on the election, could ultimately lead to a backlash against whatever group this person is affiliated with and possibly others that are just similar."
\u201c4/ During the current Upper House election campaign, Abe's connection to the Unification Church has been mentioned by fringe candidates as a reason to believe the LDP is under "foreign" influence: https://t.co/HtRWvv6XSg\u201d— Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1657320487
Trump addressed the group in 2021.
\u201c9/ 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.\u201d— Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1657320487
In his 2021 address, Trump mentioned the right-wing Washington Times newspaper.
\u201c22/ A quick note: if you buy into the theory that this shooting was motivated by the suspect's hatred of a specific religious sect, that doesn't necessarily mean this was "not political," especially if it involves religions that are deeply involved in politics.\u201d— Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1657332888
On Saturday, media in Japan reported for the first time that the suspect said, "I targeted Abe because he's friendly with the Unification Church."
\u201cMore from the article: It was an "open secret" in Nagatacho that Abe his group of lawmakers were very close with the Unification Church. Church leaders say that certain lawmakers won elections thanks to "our votes."\u201d— Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jeffrey J. Hall \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1657347570
