The Latest Breaking News from Tomihiro Tanaka

A number of followers are breaking ties with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, amid the lingering issue of massive donations made to the group.

When Sun Myung Moon, the Korean founder of the Unification Church, needed money for its extensive spiritual and business ventures he would look to Japan, according to some former members.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's instruction to ruling party members to cut ties to the Unification Church is unfortunate if true, the local head of the church said on Wednesday.

The assassination, allegedly motivated by a grudge Abe's suspected killer held against the Unification Church, has put the relationship between Japan and the church under a new spotlight.

Japanese police say they have found a number of what they believe are bullet marks on a building near the site of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's assassination last week in western Japan, apparently from the first shot fired from a suspect’s powerful homemade gun that narrowly missed Abe

The Japanese branch of South Korea’s Unification Church this week acknowledged that the mother of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's suspected killer was a member. But the Unification Church denied allegations that it demanded large donations from anyone.

Late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was neither a member nor an adviser of the religious group previously known as the Unification Church, but had sent messages to events hosted by a related organization, the group's Japan branch said Monday.

Suspect Tetsuya Yamagami blames the Unification church, also known as the Moonies, for bankrupting his family

Family and friends of Japan's assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe paid their respects Monday at a wake in Tokyo as Washington's top diplomat hailed the ex-premier as a "man of vision". Japan's ruling coalition meanwhile declared victory in a sombre election held Sunday, just two days after Abe was…