TOKYO: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday he would humbly listen to people's "harsh voices" criticizing his governing party's cozy ties to the ultra-conservative Unification Church and help victims of its allegedly fraudulent businesses and huge donation collection.

Kishida has come under fire in a widening scandal that has exposed decades of close ties between former premier Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July, his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Unification Church, which has been accused of raking in huge donations by brainwashing adherents.

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