From The New York Times:

When Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, he told the police he had “a grudge” against a “certain group.” But the authorities haven’t identified the organization or explained its connection to Mr. Abe.

Scrutiny, amid a swirl of Japanese media speculation, is now focused on the Unification Church, the Christian group known for its mass weddings and efforts to cultivate relationships with conservative political parties worldwide.

At a news conference on Monday, church officials detailed the organization’s ties to Mr. Yamagami’s mother, describing her as a longtime member. She had joined the church in 1998 but lost touch with the group for a long period before returning earlier this year, Tomihiro Tanaka, the head of the church’s Japan branch, said.

© Neshan H. Naltchayan/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, celebrating his birthday with his wife in 2000 in Washington.

The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954 by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. It later expanded overseas, building a network of newspapers and civic organizations that it used to develop ties with conservative political parties around the world. It also generated questions about its recruiting and business practices. In the 1970s and 1980s, the group faced lawsuits over soliciting funds and charges of “brainwashing” by parents who said their children had been forced to join.

The church established its branch in Japan in the late 1950s, and it soon found common cause with right-wing Japanese politicians, including Mr. Abe’s grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, over their shared animosity for Communism.

Ties between church-affiliated organizations and members of the ruling L.D.P. developed in the following decades as the church grew in size and Japanese followers generated billions of dollars in income for the group.