Shinzo Abe’s Shooter and the Unification Church: A Debate Between Suzuki and Takeda

Eito Suzuki, a journalist who has been pursuing religious issues such as the former Unification Church for more than 20 years, appeared on the October 15 broadcast of  Say That’s the Committee NP (Yomiuri TV). When he introduced his book, he got into a battle with author Tsuneyasu Takeda over Tetsuya Yamagami, who was indicted for shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

 

Mr. Takeda said of Mr. Suzuki

“I feel nothing but discomfort. He is trying very hard to build a relationship with Mr. Suzuki, even though they have nothing to do with each other, and it looks like he is trying to enhance his reputation as a journalist.”

He also claimed that the incident in which Prime Minister Kishida was attacked was the appearance of a second Yamakami. In contrast, Suzuki said,

“The straw man argument and just what you want, the argument that you are talking about, has already been used up. They are completely baseless.”

After that, the two continued to engage in a heated exchange of views on the social networking site X.

“I would like to hear Mr. Suzuki’s thoughts, so I would like you to appear on the program again.”

 

On the other hand, there are controversial voices wondering about the connection between Mr. Takeda and the Unification Church. In the reply column of Mr. Takeda’s X, a general user wrote

April 9, 2011. Tsuneyasu Takeda speaking at the Unification Church dummy’s World Strategic Studies Institute. Let’s take a look at what he says and does after getting this background.

The post was accompanied by a photo.