TOKYO -- The separation of politics and religion ordained by the Japanese constitution "is not meant to foreclose political activities by religious institutions," Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently said.
The statement, in a written reply to a reporter's question, was made on Aug. 15 amid growing public awareness of connections between the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known by its former name the Unification Church, and the governing Liberal Democratic Party.
