一 | TOKYO -- Japan’s government asked a court Friday to revoke the legal status of the Unification Church after an Education Ministry investigation concluded the group for decades has systematically manipulated its followers into donating money, sowing fear and harming their families.The request submitted to the Tokyo District Court asks for it to issue a dissolution order revoking the church's status as a religious organization. Education Ministry officials submitted 5,000 pieces of documents and evidence in cardboard boxes to the court to support its request. The process involves hearings and appeals from both sides and would take a while. If the order is approved and its legal status is stripped, the church could still operate but would lose its tax exemption privilege as a religious organization and would face financial setbacks.The request was made a day after Education Minister Masahito Moriyama announced a panel of experts had endorsed the revocation request based on the findings of the ministry's investigation into the church's fundraising tactics and other allegations. The Japan branch of the South Korea-based church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, earlier condemned the government's decision.“It is our deepest regret that the Japanese government made the serious decision based on distorted information provided by a leftist lawyers’ group formed for the purpose of destroying our organization,” the church said in a statement late Thursday. “It will be a stain in Japan’s Constitutional history.”As part of the Education Ministry investigation, officials interviewed more than 170 people allegedly harmed by the church's fundraising tactics and other problems. The church failed to respond to dozens of questions during the seven inquiries, Moriyama said Thursday. The church tried to steer its followers’ decision-making, using manipulative tactics, making them buy expensive goods and donate beyond their financial ability and causing fear and harm to them and their families, Moriyama said Thursday. The tactics seriously deviated from the law on religious groups, in which the purpose of the churches’ legal status is to give people peace of mind, he said. “The activities are wrongful conducts under the Civil Code and their damages are immense.”The Agency for Cultural Affairs found 32 cases of civil lawsuits acknowledging damages totaling 2.2 billion yen ($14.7 million) for 169 people, while the amount of settlements reached in or outside court totaled 20.4 billion yen ($137 million) and involved 1,550 people, Moriyama said.Japan has in place hurdles for restraining religious activities due to lessons from the prewar and wartime oppression of freedom of religion and thought.The investigation followed months of public outrage and questions about the group’s fundraising and recruitment tactics after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination last year. The man accused of shooting Abe allegedly was motivated by the former prime minister’s links to the church that he blamed for bankrupting his family.Decades of cozy ties between the church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party were revealed since Abe's assassination and have eroded support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government. Kishida told reporters Thursday that the government’s decision to seek the revocation order was made carefully based on facts and was not political, denying speculation it was intended to shore up dwindling public support.The Unification Church obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in 1968 amid an anti-communist movement supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.The church has acknowledged excessive donations but says the problem has been mitigated for more than a decade. It also has pledged further reforms.Experts say Japanese followers are asked to pay for sins committed by their ancestors during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, and that the majority of the church’s worldwide funding comes from Japan.If the church's status is revoked, it would be the first under civil law. Two earlier cases involved criminal charges — the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and the Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.。 “五一”假期即将到来，为了能让消费者敢消费、愿消费、乐享品质消费，中国消费者协会昨日发布消费提示，提醒广大消费者“五一”假期四大消费领域要留心。 交通住宿需规划。
二 | 中消协提示，“五一”期间人流、车流量大，景点、道路可能出现拥堵的情况，消费者如果选择外出游玩，应提前规划好行程，合理安排出行路线和住宿酒店等。选择自驾游、长途巴士的消费者应时刻关注路况，尽量错峰出行。
三 | 选择飞机、高铁出行的消费者要提前购买往返票，并通过正规平台、网站购票，如遇到有打折的车票或机票务必考虑折扣是否合理，不要轻信“特价机票”“内部渠道”等宣传，防止上当受骗。选定酒店时要通过正规平台多方比价，并仔细查看酒店的评分和其他消费者的评价，注意酒店周围的交通和环境。选择旅行社前要通过全国旅游监管服务平台查询旅行社的资质和注册信息，确保旅行社资质齐全、经营范围明确，并签订正规旅行合同，仔细审阅合同内容。 购物充值要警惕。“五一”期间不少商家会开展各种促销活动，其中难免鱼龙混杂，消费者要审慎选择、理性消费，避免落入各种消费陷阱。
四 | 在购买商品前，消费者应当先评估自身的消费能力，然后货比三家择优选购，面对商家的促销和宣传不要冲动，多关注商品的品质。对于需要购卡充值的预付消费，消费者务必仔细审阅合同条款，明确退费、违约等事项，避免一次性充值过大金额。另外，不要听信自称中消协帮忙办理退款退费的电话、短信和平台信息，中消协已在声明中多次强调此系不法分子冒充，而且正规退费流程一般会以原路返还的形式返还本人缴费账号，凡是退款时要求额外支付费用的，都是诈骗。 饮食就餐讲卫生。消费者外出就餐时要注意“舌尖上”的安全，尽量选择经营资质齐全、就餐环境干净卫生、食品量化等级高及实施“名厨亮灶”的餐厅就餐，并关注菜品是否新鲜，不要食用“野味”和未加工处理的“生鲜”食品。
五 | 购买食品时要选择包装及标签信息完整的食品，并按照说明保存和食用。
六 | 消费纠纷留证据。购物凭证是消费者与商家发生消费纠纷后，依法维权的重要证明。广大消费者在购买、使用商品或旅游消费中，一定要注意索取并妥善保留购物发票、收据、支付记录等消费凭证。
七 | 当自身合法权益受到损害时，应当本着合法、正当、公平原则，首先与商家协商解决，如果和解不成，可向有关部门投诉，也可通过全国消协智慧315平台向消协组织投诉。
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