Buddhist Priest Warns Japan ‘Cult’ Ban Risks All

Buddhist priest raises alarm over dissolution and challenges state intervention based on “mind control” concept, warning of wider threat to any faith in Japan

See also part 2: Today the Family Federation, Tomorrow a Temple?

The dissolution of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification in Japan has generally been presented as a dispute concerning one persecuted religious organization.

See also Zen Head: “FFWPU Case A Warning to All Religions”

See also Mistrust of Religion: State Persecuting Minority

See also Large Zen Group: “Dangerous Precedent Set”

See also Japan: FFWPU Case Signals Dangerous State Power

See also When Children Are Taught to Suspect the Parents

But according to Buddhist priest Shindō Mizuta (水田真道), the implications are much broader. If the state can use the dissolution procedure to deprive a religious organization of its legal status and place its property and activities under the control of a court-appointed liquidator, other religious communities may eventually find themselves facing similar intervention.

This is the central concern expressed by Mizuta, chief priest of Kongoji Temple, in a video conversation with literary critic Eitaro Ogawa (小川榮太郎), discussed in an article by religious-studies scholar Dr. Massimo Introvigne in Bitter Winter on 21^st July 2026. Mizuta’s intervention is particularly noteworthy because he is not speaking as a member or defender of the Family Federation. He is a Buddhist priest reflecting on what the case may mean for the relationship between religion and state power in Japan.

Mizuta’s own background is unusual for a Buddhist priest. He first studied engineering, obtaining a master’s degree and preparing for an academic career. At his father’s urging, however, he returned to the family temple and entered monastic training at Zuiganji in Matsushima, a temple designated a National Treasure. After two years of rigorous Buddhist practice, he became a priest.

It was precisely because of his understanding of religious life, he explained, that the Family Federation case compelled him to speak out.

A Buddhist objection to judging religion by subjective standards

Mizuta begins with a fundamental Buddhist principle: human beings should be cautious about imposing their own subjective judgments on reality.

He compares this approach with the scientific search for truths that remain valid regardless of personal preference or circumstances. Buddhism, however, has a particular purpose in seeking truth: reducing human suffering. One way of doing this is to avoid dividing the world simply according to our likes, dislikes and preconceived categories.

Mizuta illustrates the point with something as ordinary as donations made at shrines on New Year’s Day. Is a particular donation generous or excessive? There can be no simple answer without knowing the donor’s financial circumstances and intentions. A sum that is insignificant to a wealthy person could represent a considerable sacrifice for someone with limited means.

For Mizuta, the same principle should apply when judging religious organizations.

He argues that the widespread tendency to describe the Family Federation as inherently “evil” risks replacing objective examination with subjective discrimination. A religious group should not be condemned simply because its beliefs or practices are unfamiliar or unpopular.

In his Buddhist understanding, good and evil are ultimately related to whether an action moves a person toward truth or toward ignorance. Social convention alone cannot necessarily determine the difference.

Mizuta points to the Buddha himself as an example. From an ordinary social perspective, Siddhartha Gautama’s decision to leave his wife, child and royal position could be viewed negatively. Yet within Buddhism, his departure is understood as the beginning of his search for liberation and an answer to the problem of suffering.

The lesson, Mizuta suggests, is that society can easily confuse conventional moral judgments with a genuine understanding of spiritual motivation.

Questions about donations and the term “cult”

Mizuta then applies this reasoning to several of the principal criticisms directed at the Family Federation.

One concerns large donations. He does not argue that every donation is necessarily appropriate. Rather, he questions whether the mere size of a donation can provide an adequate basis for judging it. Without knowing the donor’s circumstances, intentions and understanding, he argues, outsiders cannot automatically determine that a particular contribution was excessive or harmful.

He is similarly critical of terms such as “cult” and “mind control” [See editor’s note below]. Mizuta considers such expressions problematic when they are used without clear, objective definitions. He compares them to the Japanese marketing expression “negative ions”, which may sound scientific but does not correspond to a clearly established scientific concept in the way the term is commonly marketed.

“Negative ions” (more precisely, negative air ions) are a real physical phenomenon: electrically charged molecules or atoms carrying an extra electron. They can occur naturally, for example around waterfalls, during thunderstorms, or through other atmospheric processes.

The problem Mizuta is pointing to is the way the term has sometimes been used in Japanese health and consumer marketing. Products may be advertised as producing “negative ions” and thereby providing various health or wellness benefits. Some of these claims have gone considerably beyond what established scientific evidence supports.

Mizuta’s analogy is essentially that a term can sound scientific without the claims made around it necessarily being scientifically established.

Likewise, “cult” is not a precise scientific or legal category in the same way that, for example, “bipolar disorder” or “carbon monoxide” is a defined technical term. It is a highly contested label whose meaning varies considerably depending on who uses it.

Similarly, “mind control” [See editor’s note below] is not a single, clearly defined psychological mechanism that allows investigators to determine objectively that a particular person or organization has “mind-controlled” someone.

His broader point is that emotionally powerful labels can influence public opinion without providing a rigorous basis for evaluating a religious community. Once such labels become accepted, they can contribute to social exclusion and, in his view, increase rather than reduce human suffering.

Continued in part 2: Today the Family Federation, Tomorrow a Temple?

See also Zen Head: “FFWPU Case A Warning to All Religions”

See also Mistrust of Religion: State Persecuting Minority

See also Large Zen Group: “Dangerous Precedent Set”

See also Japan: FFWPU Case Signals Dangerous State Power

See also When Children Are Taught to Suspect the Parents

See also When Public Narrative Becomes State Action

Text: Knut Holdhus, editor

Featured image above: Buddhist priest warning of wider threat to any faith in Japan. Illustration: ChatGPT, August 2026.

[Editor’s note: In Japan, the “mind-control” myth has been a powerful tool used to stigmatize and suppress new religious movements (NRMs), particularly since the 1980s. The concept suggests that NRMs manipulate or “brainwash” their followers, depriving them of free will and rational thought. This narrative gained traction after the 1995 Aum Shinrikyō sarin gas attack, when public fear of dangerous cults intensified. Although Aum was an extreme and violent exception, the incident cast suspicion on all NRMs, allowing critics, media, and the government to label diverse groups as manipulative or psychologically coercive.

The “mind-control” myth serves multiple social and political functions. It simplifies complex questions of belief, making it easier to portray converts as victims rather than as individuals exercising spiritual agency. This framing justifies legal and social intervention, including the coercive “deprogramming” of believers – sometimes involving confinement or psychological pressure to force renunciation of faith. Lawyers, ex-member groups, and certain media outlets have used the idea of mind control to construct NRMs as threats to family stability and national order, reinforcing social conformity and Japan’s preference for established, non-controversial religions such as Buddhism and Shinto.

In recent years, the myth resurfaced following the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose attacker cited resentment toward the Unification Church. Public outrage reignited scrutiny of NRMs, and politicians and journalists revived “mind-control” rhetoric to explain the Church’s fundraising and recruitment practices. Critics argue that this framing discourages genuine religious tolerance and critical examination of Japan’s restrictive religious climate. Overall, the “mind-control” myth functions less as a scientific or psychological concept and more as a moral panic – a cultural weapon used to delegitimize minority faiths and to reaffirm mainstream social norms about religion, obedience, and the boundaries of acceptable belief.]

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