2023 journal article
The Abe Assassination and Japan’s Nexus of Religion and Politics
Current History, 122(845), 209–216.
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
(OpenAlex)
Source: ORCID
Added: August 29, 2023
The shocking murder of Japan’s former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe by a gunman motivated by anger at the politician’s ties to the controversial Unification Church sparked a massive outcry that amplified long-standing anxieties about religion in Japan. This article surveys reasons for persistent tensions between a Japanese public that tends to reject self-identifying as religious and the influence of religion-affiliated organizations on Japanese politics. It also identifies Abe’s assassination in July 2022 and local-level elections in April 2023 as potential beginning and end points of the latest moral panic about religion in Japan’s public sphere.