The Tokyo High Court is expected to decide in early March concerning whether to order the Unification Church to disband.

The court has been reviewing the case behind closed doors after the religious group appealed the dissolution order handed down by the Tokyo District Court in March 2025.

The district court’s decision came after the culture ministry requested in October 2023 that it order the church to dissolve as the organization has been pressured followers to make excessive donations and purchase goods since the 1980s, creating financial burdens and mental distress.

The lower court said at the time of its ruling that the church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has caused unprecedented and enormous damage over a period of about 40 years.

In the high court proceedings, the organization and the government both submitted their final written arguments in November 2025.

Sources close to the case said the Tokyo High Court will issue its decision on March 4.

If the high court also moves to order the dissolution, the liquidation process for the Unification Church will begin even if the group appeals to the Supreme Court.

If the church loses its status as a religious corporation, it will become a voluntary organization and no longer be eligible for tax benefits but will still be able to continue its missionary and faith-related activities as before.

The Unification Church has been implicated in the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo as his assailant Yamagami Tetsuya held a grudge against the organization because his mother made massive donations, causing the family to fall apart.

Yamagami said during his trial that he saw Abe as the central figure in the relationship between politics and the Unification Church.