TOKYO: The Speaker of the Lower House of the Japanese House of Representatives, Hiroyuki Hosoda, confirmed on Friday that he had attended more events connected to the controversial religious sect, Unification Church, than he had previously acknowledged.

At a discussion on the subject, Hosoda informed the legislative representatives that in addition to the four gatherings the sect's hosted between 2018 and 2019, he also attended four other events and sent three messages.

According to public broadcaster NHK, the chairman of the lower house's Committee on Rules and Administration told reporters of Hosoda's most recent admission. Hosoda was already facing criticism from opposition parties for his involvement with the group.

His early admission of connections to the group, which is sometimes described as a cult, has been roundly criticised by other opposition groups as well as the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ).
A CDPJ politician stated on Friday that there were still questions regarding Hosoda's comments and admissions, particularly in light of the shady church's support for the Speaker during election campaigns while he was the leader of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faction.

Hosoda has denied that the religious organisation based in his district of Shimane prefecture gave such electoral support.

Following an internal investigation by the LDP last month that revealed roughly half of the LDP's lawmakers had ties to the contentious organisation, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, calls from the opposition camp for Hosoda to resign or be fired over the matter have increased.

Due to declining public support, there has been increasing pressure on the larger ruling LDP led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to provide an explanation for its ties to the group.

The religious cult has a reputation for extorting significant sums of money from its adherents in exchange for "spiritual" or "karmic" advantages.

After Tetsuya Yamagami, who killed former prime minister Shinzo Abe on July 8, accused the group of causing his family's financial collapse, the sect gained notoriety.

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