The Foreign Ministry said Friday it provided around ¥9.55 million in official development assistance to a nongovernmental organization affiliated with the Unification Church in 2018 to build a women's vocational training school in Senegal.
The decision was made because the ministry wanted "to contribute to the advancement of women in society" and "was not aware that the organization was affiliated with the church," according to Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Hayashi, who made the revelation at a House of Representatives foreign affairs committee meeting Friday in response to questioning by the Japanese Communist Party's Keiji Kokuta, added that an investigation will be launched to determine if there were any other similar cases.