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This post is a DeepL translation (partially revised by the administrator) of the following article. The content of this article was featured in a TBS TV program. You can find the movie at the link page.
Lies Behind the "Decrease in Lawsuits" of the Former Unification Church: "Agreement to Waive Refunds" [Press Report 1930].
Domestic
TBS TV
Press Report 1930
Sunday, 14 August 2022 09:00
The UUnification Church has been found to be deeply entrenched in Japanese politics. Although the church explains that there are no more victims today as there used to be, the program obtained a "written agreement" between believers and the church. We asked a well-informed person about another revelation about the true nature of the cult.
■The essence of the Unification Church is not just a religious organization.
The new Kishida cabinet has been inaugurated. According to the prime minister, "I have appointed only those who have agreed to inspect and strictly review the relationship with the Unification Church". This time, all seven members who had revealed some involvement with the church have been replaced. Although they were to leave the Cabinet, the new faces and the seven who remained in the Cabinet newly revealed their relationship with the church. Although Hagiuda left the Cabinet, he became one of three most important posts of the LDP, and the number of lawmakers in the core of the government and ruling party who had ties to the Unification Church increased rather than decreased. Furthermore, a look at subsequent deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries reveals that at least 19 of the 54 (as of August 12) were in contact with the The number of contacts was revealed. How many lawmakers would have been involved if an "inspection and review" of not only cabinet ministers but of the LDP as a whole were conducted?
Shinsuke Tsutsumi, former editor-in-chief of the international magazine "Foresight"
Given the seriousness of the matter, "inspect and review" is an incorrect use of the term. It sounds like a light-hearted thing, as if the company's fire prevention equipment should be inspected. What is needed is an investigation and clarification. This appointment of Prime Minister Kishida is totally disappointing."
It is hard to know how far the "relationship with the cult" will spread when not only Diet members but also local assemblies and municipalities are involved. Many Diet members claim that they were unaware of the cult's affiliation, but that is not enough.
Hiroshi Yamaguchi, attorney at law, National Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales Lawyers Liaison Association
The essence of the Unification Church is that it is not just a religious organization. There is a political division, and there is also an economic division that collects donations and spends them freely in various places, as well as a speech arm such as the Washington Times. There is no way that only the political arm was involved. The congressman I asked said he didn't really understand, but if you go there, you can easily understand. Even if it is just what kind of greeting they are giving. There is even a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon. He said he thought it was a bad idea and came back immediately, but it is impossible that he didn't know.
There are more than 200 facilities related to the Unification Church in Japan. In some cases, we see posters of LDP members posted at the entrances of these buildings and other places. What does this mean...?
Professor Yoshihide Sakurai, Hokkaido University Graduate School
Posting posters facing outward is a way of saying that this organization is authorized and recognized by this politician. It is different from the way a general religious organization endorses a candidate."
He said that when religious organizations cooperate in vote collection, posters are usually displayed inside the institution and used to solidify the votes of believers. The Unification Church, however, posts its posters in places where they can be seen by the outside world, and uses them to show off its power.
We have reported in the past in "Press Report 1930" that the Japanese are nothing more than a donation machine for the Unification Church. The church uses its ties to politicians as a publicity tool to increase the number of its followers, to get them to donate money, and to increase its funds. After all, shouldn't politicians be aware that they are being used to gain followers?
■The fact that Mr. Kanemaru has accepted the mission has made me think that Mr. Moon might really be the Messiah.
In the past, the cult has had the opportunity to dramatically increase its followers and donations. There, too, was the presence of a member of the government's own party, in March 1992. In March 1992, Sun Myung Moon arrived at Narita Airport accompanied by his wife, Han Hukja. He was serving a prison sentence in the U.S. and was banned from entering Japan. However, he was allowed to enter Japan at the urging of a prominent member of the Liberal Democratic Party. This became a topic of conversation among his followers.
Testimony of a former Japanese believer
"Within the church, people said, 'Mr. Kanemaru accepted the Messiah, Mr. Moon".
Mr. Kanemaru is none other than Mr. Shin Kanemaru, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, who was known as the kingmaker at the time. Mr. Moon is, of course, Mr. Sun Myung Moon. After entering Japan, Mr. Moon met with former Prime Minister Nakasone and told his followers, "If I had not been allowed into Japan, Japan would have been deprived of "Eva Country". Then, five months after his entry into Japan, Moon declared, "I proclaim that I and my wife, Ms. Han Hakja, are the True Parents of humankind, the Messiah, the Second Coming of the Lord, and the Messiah".
Hearing this, the believers thought as follows.
Testimony of a former Japanese believer
Before this event [the permission to enter Japan], I was skeptical too, but the fact that Mr. Kanemaru accepted changed my mind that maybe Mr. Moon really is the Messiah."
This 1992 event took the form of the authorization by the Japanese kingmakers, and the Unification Church at that time greatly increased the number of Japanese believers and the amount of donations. As a symbol of this, the number of "Mass Weddings," which had been 1,275 in 1989, jumped to 30,000 that year. The fact that Japanese celebrities also took part in the weddings was a topic of conversation at the time.
As a result, Japan was taken advantage of by Mr. Moon to gain entry to Japan. However, Mr. Moon had this to say about entering Japan:
"The emperor came and knelt down. I will not go to Japan until the Emperor comes and kneels down and weeps for him."
This is a good description of his view of Japan. He was specially allowed to enter the country.
■He is too busy making this agreement here and there.
The Unification Church, which has gained followers and has had an endless stream of problems caused by large donations, is now in a relationship with a member of the Diet.
This time, as the Diet members' relationship with the church is being discussed, we have been told that this is not a religious issue, such as the separation of church and state, but rather that the Unification Church is not just a religious organization, but an antisocial group. However, the Unification Church held a press conference to coincide with the cabinet reshuffle. There, it was emphasized that since the declaration of compliance in 2009, the church has been thorough in ensuring that no large donations are made to the church.
Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Unification Church) said, "The number of civil lawsuits has been steadily decreasing; in 1998 (the peak year) there were 78, but in 2022 there will be only five."
However, the program did obtain one document. It was exchanged in 2015 between a cult official and a former believer. In the agreement, the former believer asked for a refund of approximately 6.3 million yen, including the cost of a book of the teachings he had purchased from the cult, and was given 2.03 million yen as a settlement payment. In exchange, the former believer was paid 2,030,000 yen as a settlement and that he would not demand any money from the cult in the future.
The believer received the 2,030,000 yen, but was not satisfied and filed a lawsuit. The court ruled that the agreement was invalid, and the former believer was able to win his case.
However, there were a number of other written agreements that the program obtained alone. Not all of them resulted in lawsuits, and many resulted in "reluctant concession" agreements. And this has ostensibly led to a significant reduction in the number of lawsuits.
Hiroshi Yamaguchi, attorney at law, National Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales Lawyers Liaison Association
"The head of the general affairs bureau of the cult at the time", Hiroshi Yamaguchi, said, "They are doing it in an organized manner (to prevent lawsuits). The head of the general affairs bureau at the time, a man from a certain university who had failed the bar exam, said, 'We're too busy here and there trying to get this agreement in place".
And Attorney Yamaguchi added, "The technique is to return only a portion of the 1.2 billion donation, and then sign a document stating that there are no claims or obligations".
If they are not familiar with the law, they believe that the contract is valid, and many former believers who want to get rid of the donation as soon as possible think that since they have received some of their money back, they can end their relationship with the donor.
■If not in Japan, "donation tours" in Korea
The church emphasizes compliance. However, the system for collecting money from believers is not in Japan, but in South Korea, where it is more difficult to reach. The "donation tour," in which participants go to a church in Cheongpyeong, South Korea, and pay money to the church. The reservation form on the Internet is lined with numbers in increments of seven, from 1 to 7, 8 to 14, and so on. This is called "Ancestor Release," and it is said that if you go once, you can release your ancestor's grudge for each of the seven generations. A single visit involves a donation of 2.8 million yen.
National Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales Lawyers Liaison Association, Attorney Hiroshi Yamaguchi said, "They are evading their responsibility by saying that the Japanese cult has nothing to do with this because it is done in Korea. But the illegal persuasion activities are taking place in Japan, so the Unification Church in Japan should take responsibility, and the court has recognized that."
The program found that the church had been recruiting for such "donation tours" until at least July of 2021. The damage is not a thing of the past. The damage is not old, but continues to this day.
While the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has refused to take any party-wide direction in the investigation, Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the United Families for World Peace / Unification Church, stressed at a press conference that he has been cooperating with LDP lawmakers.
Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification / the Unification Church
"We are confronting communism. From that point of view, we have more contacts with LDP lawmakers. We have been joining hands, not in the sense of political maneuvering, but toward building a better country."
What was the meaning of the church side's outspoken emphasis on cooperative relations with the LDP now...? Can the LDP take a resolute attitude toward this? This will be a touchstone for the future.
(From BS-TBS "News 1930" broadcast on August 11)
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
