Kirk here with a major scoop. Kumamon has been in cahoots with the Moonies!! Well, actually, to be fair, it’s probably more a matter of Kumamon getting used by the Moonies. Here’s the story . . .
A long time ago, I learned that the Moonies were pushing regional governments to pass “family education” ordinances:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/167033417187237/posts/1164986174058618/
My original source didn’t mention Kumamoto but, being quite interested in this place, I naturally wondered if this might not have happened in Kumamoto too. Well, to my surprise, the answer was not so much a matter of “Kumamoto too” but rather “Kumamoto takes the lead in passing the Moonie agenda.”
The cute photo of Kumamon promoting the “Kumamoto Family Education Support Ordinance” was taken from the following page:
https://www.nga.gr.jp/pref_info/tembo/2013/04/post_2219.html
This article was published on the National Governors’ Association website in 2013, shortly after the Ordinance was passed by the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly in 2012 – making it the first such ordinance published in Japan.
“First such ordinance” sounded kind of cool at the time. In fact, the prefecture wanted to get the word out about it because they viewed it as their “accomplishment.” Now, however, there’s another similar sounding words that seems to fits the passage of this particular piece of legislation: “accomplice” to the Moonies.
It has since become clear that this kind of legislation has been a high priority for the Moonies throughout Japan. In Kumamoto, the legislation has been pushed by the “Kumamoto Pure Forum,” a Moonie-linked group. I mentioned the not so “pure” forum in this post:
Just by piecing together bits of information from various articles, TV shows, and web pages, it became clear to me (as I think I indicated in my posts) that politicians in Kumamoto had been actively cooperating with the Moonies, particularly with regard to he tpassage of this “family education” (viz., “traditional family values”) legislation. So, I was wondering why the media wasn’t taking a harder look at what had transpired in Kumamoto.
Well, at long last, it would seem that the tide is beginning to turn in that regard. Today, the Asahi paper published a significant article calling out local politicians for the extent to which they have been in bed with the Moonies:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8c61b0d999774d95834ea2aaf56bebe867bf7f2e
In addition to the 2012 ordinance passed by the Prefectural assembly, the article looks at calls from regional legislatures for the establishment of a national “Family Education” law (“Hey, instead of doing this one-legislative-body-at-a-time, let’s just give the Moonies what they want on a national scale!!”). The legislatures who passed resolutions calling on the national government to pass the Moonie-approved law are (drum role please):
Kumamoto-ken Ashikita-machi Uto-shi Tamana-shi Kami-Amakusa-shi Minami-Aso-mura Aso-shi Arao-shi
The article says that 34 legislatures have passed such resoltions nationally. So, 8 out of 34 makes Kumamoto an usually powerful ally of the Moonies’ push to get the law passed.
The article doesn’t mention the names of some of the people involved, choosing instead to say stuff like “a man . . .” But, even with my limited knowledge I usually know who they are talking about. I’m not sure why they don’t just come out and name the people involved.
It’s interesting to me that this investigative reporting was done by the Asahi paper – not the Kumanich, the paper with the largest readership in Kumamoto. I have a feeling that the Kumanichi may be too susceptible to pressures from the politicians who are getting called out in this Asahi article.