CNN has contacted the Unification Church for an official comment but has not yet heard back. Previous controversiesThis is not the first time the Unification Church has been at the center of a controversy. The Sapporo District Court made a landmark ruling in favor of 20 former Unification Church members who had sued the group as part of the case. However, he also notes that some of its members felt happy and at peace after making donations to the Unification Church. Some critics of the Unification Church say the government’s actions don’t go far enough as it could still operate as a non-religious group.

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Persons: Japan CNN —, Shinzo Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, Abe, Yamagami, Reverend Sun Myung, Abe’s, Fumio Kishida, Kishida, Sakurai Yoshihid, Naomi Honma, ”, Nobutaka Inoue, What’s, don’t, Sakurai, ” Sakurai, Kimiaki, Nishida, Toshiyuki, – Organizations: Japan CNN, Unification, Family Federation, World Peace, Court, NHK, Unification Church, Reverend, CNN, Reuters, Japan’s Ministry, Cultural Affairs, Hokkaido University . CNN, National Lawyers Network, Kokugakuin University, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Japan Society for Cult Prevention, Osaka University Locations: Tokyo, Japan, South Korea, Sapporo