Fact Check: Japanese Ministry Of Health, Labour And Welfare's Logo Was NOT Changed To Look Like Unification Church's Symbol

Not The Same

Did the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare change its logo to make it look like the Unification Church's emblem, implying a connection between the government and the controversial church founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon? No, that's not true: The ministry's current logo was the result of an open call for designers across the country to submit their rendition of a new, potential symbol in 2008. The winner of the contest, Yoshiaki Hidaka, has no ties to the church.

The claim appeared on TikTok (archived here) on August 6, 2023. A slideshow implies that the two symbols are the same.

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Aug 28 04:06:02 2023 UTC)

According to an official statement, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare's logo was officially changed to the current one in 2008. The purpose of the change was "to return to the basics of health, labor and welfare administration expected by the public, to improve corporate governance as an organization, and reform the awareness of employees" (translated from Japanese to English by Lead Stories staff).

Graphic designer Hidaka's winning logo shows two people joining hands with a heart inside, to symbolize happiness.

(Source: Screenshot from The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare on Tue Aug 29 2023 09:00:00 UTC)

Hidaka has no ties to the Unification Church: a Google search performed by Lead Stories on August 29, 2023, using the keywords "Yoshikai Hidaka And The Unification Church" (translation from Japanese to English by Lead Stories staff) showed no results on him being connected to the church.

The Unification Church, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was founded in South Korea in 1954 by Moon. It has been controversial and many people in Japan consider it a cult.

The Unification Church's official emblem, shown below, was changed in 1996 as the organization believed that having a cross in the symbol was a "negative image" of torture:

(Source: Screenshot from The Minnesota Family Church, a branch of the Unification Church, on Tue Aug 29 2023 09:00:00 UTC)

Though this is the logo displayed across all the international branches, the main design that the organization uses for rituals and church-related matters looks different:

(Source: Screenshot from CRW Flags on Tue Aug 29 2023 09:00:00 UTC)

According to CRW Flags, the Church uses the above symbol for decorative purposes: it can be displayed by "blessed families," if they wish to, and during the Seunghwa Ceremony, where the logo is displayed on top of the casket of a blessed member and buried with it.