LDP ex-Representative Hirofumi Kado, photo evidence of “close association” with the former Unification Church

Hirofumi Kado, 57, a former member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), held a press conference in Wakayama City on February 6 and suddenly announced that he had a past relationship with the former Unification Church of World Peace and Unification Family Association. Kado is considered a candidate for the Wakayama 1st district by-election in April, and he explained that he made the announcement voluntarily because he thought it would be better to do so beforehand rather than after the fact.

However, this explanation is a blatant lie. On February 4, this magazine, which had been investigating the relationship between Kado and the former Unification Church, directly interviewed Kado at his office in Wakayama City. In response, Kado hurriedly held a press conference.

Kado, whose father is a member of the prefectural assembly, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. He served as Parliamentary Secretary for Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, but was unsuccessful in his bid in 2009. He is also well known for the “adulterous road kiss” scandal with Nakagawa Ikuko, a member of the House of Representatives.

The close relationship between Kado and the former Unification Church has long been well known in his hometown. A Liberal Democratic Party official in Wakayama testified.

Kado said at a press conference that he attended meetings of related organizations and sent congratulatory telegrams and messages several times, but the number is enormous. The number is enormous. Since at least the time of the 2002 lower house election, Kado has had a considerable number of communications with the cult and related organizations.

The magazine also obtained a large amount of “evidentiary materials” showing Kado’s relationship with the cult. There are more than 10 items, including photographs of speeches at events and congratulatory telegrams. Although we are unable to publish all of them due to the layout, we will describe the main ones in detail.

On July 6, 2002, he gave a lecture at a meeting of the Wakayama Prefecture Forum for Peace and Security in Asia and Japan, an affiliate of the former Unification Church.

On October 12, 2003, he sent a congratulatory letter to the “United Families for World Peace and Unification Sailing Convention.

On August 16, 2004, sent an invitation to a study session to the vice president of the Federation for World Peace (FWP), a related organization.

On November 21, 2005, a letter of congratulations was sent to the “Filial Love Family Festival,” a meeting of the former Unification Church.

In April 2007, sent an invitation to send party tickets of the Shishokai (to which Nikai and Kado belong) to the executives of the “World Peace Federation.

On February 23, 2008, a congratulatory letter was sent to the “Family Federation for World Peace and Unification ‘The 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Moon Myung Moon and the 60th Anniversary of His Sacred Wedding.

In addition to this, in February 2006, he took a photo with a senior official of an affiliated organization at the office of a Diet member, and in January 2009, he even sent a letter urging the payment of “LDP expenses.

Even before the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the former Unification Church’s malicious solicitation and psychic business practices were well known. The sending of party tickets and the urging of party expenses can only be considered as an attempt on Kado’s part to voluntarily deepen his relationship with the church, but what will he say about it? As mentioned above, when this magazine directly interviewed Mr. Kado in Wakayama City on February 4, he admitted that the “evidence” was true, and then said, in general, as follows

Mr. Kado said, “The shooting of Mr. Abe last year brought Mr. Unification Family into the spotlight. To be honest, it is true that I had little knowledge about the trial and the trouble that was going on. I am aware that after the incident, there was a survey conducted among (LDP) lawmakers, but I was not elected, so I did not have the opportunity to go out of my way to express (my relationship with the church). I regret it greatly, as I should have handled the situation more carefully by obtaining various information.

Koichi Kakutani, a political journalist, commented on this statement.

If he did not know that the former Unification Church was a problematic organization, he cannot escape the charge that he did not study hard enough as a politician. That is neither an excuse nor a reason. He could have had many opportunities to make a public apology himself, and if he was not discovered, his intention to leave the matter as it was is is transparent. I can only think that he is neglecting his constituents.

In the February 3 issue of this magazine, we reported that Yosuke Tsuruho, a member of the House of Councilors, also had relations with the former Unification Church but concealed them. Following this, another candidate for the Wakayama 1st Constituency supplementary election for the House of Representatives was found to have a relationship with the church. The LDP’s candidate selection process is likely to become even more difficult, but it is the local voters who are most worried.

From the February 24, 2023 issue of FRIDAY