Tokyo District Court

The Tokyo District Court is a court of first instance within Japan's judiciary, hearing major civil, criminal and administrative matters arising in the Tokyo area. It has authority under Article 81 of Japan's Religious Corporations Act to rule on a government petition to dissolve a religious corporation's legal status, a power previously exercised only against Aum Shinrikyo and, on narrower grounds, against Myokakuji temple. On March 25, 2025, the court used this authority for the first time on civil tort grounds rather than a criminal conviction, ordering the dissolution of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church.