Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered an investigation on Monday into the Unification Church after the assassination of former premier Shinzo Abe in July revealed close ties between it and ruling party lawmakers.
Support for Kishida's government has tumbled to its lowest since he took office a year ago on growing anger that members of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) did not fully disclose their ties to the church, founded in South Korea in the 1950s and famous for its mass weddings.
