The government on Tuesday began discussing guidelines for its probe of the Unification Church, moving a step closer to questioning the controversial religious group with an eye on possibly requesting a court order to deprive it of tax benefits as a religious corporation.
The discussions came after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week instructed an investigation be launched into the church based on the "right to question" under the Religious Corporations Law in response to pressure from the public to address ties between members of his ruling party and the church, often labeled as a cult.
Tetsuo Goda, a Cultural Affairs Agency executive, said he expects the direction of the guidelines to be set in the next meeting and called on a panel of experts advising the agency to discuss the issue from various perspectives "in light of the graveness and urgency" of the situation.