Call for Right to Freely Practice One’s Faith

Protesters march through government area in Tokyo demanding their freedom of religion as they call for the authorities to withdraw 2025 dissolution order

Tokyo, 31st July 2025 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article. 

A Fight to Defend Freedom

1,000 Family Federation Believers March in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo

by the editorial department of Sekai Nippo

See also Protesters Warn of Wider Impact of Dissolution

“We won’t let our freedom of faith be taken away!” – On 30^th July, the “Tokyo Citizens’ Association to Protect Basic Human Rights and Freedom of Religion,” composed of members of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), held a rally at the Hibiya Park Open-Air Concert Hall (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo) to call for a society where people can freely practice their faith.

According to the organizers, about 1,000 people participated. After the rally, they marched through the streets of Kasumigaseki, where many government ministries are located, chanting slogans.

Tomihiro Tanaka (田中富広), President of the Family Federation in Japan, who was invited as a guest speaker, claimed that communist ideology, which denies religious values and traditional family structures, is spreading throughout Japanese society. He stressed,

“Those with anti-Japanese ideologies are labeling us as anti-Japanese.”

He continued,

“(Family Federation believers) have been standing firmly against communism. No matter how we’re perceived, let’s continue to raise our voices with pride and confidence.”

Also speaking at the rally was Fumiya Sakeo (酒生文弥), Chief Priest of Kōjūin Temple of the Jōdo Shinshū school of Buddhism [See editor’s note below]. He declared,

“Right now, ‘freedom’ is like a flickering candle about to go out. Your march today, in this intense heat, is not merely for one religious group – it is a fight to protect the precious ‘freedom’ that is under threat.”

After the rally, participants began their protest march from the park, walking past the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and other government buildings while chanting slogans like,

• “Don’t take our church away!”
• “We love Japan!”

See also Protesters Warn of Wider Impact of Dissolution

Featured image above: Family Federation believers parading in front of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) — afternoon of 30^th July 2025, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. Photo: Takahide Ishii (石井孝秀).

[Editor’s note: Jōdo Shinshū (浄土真宗), often translated as the “True Pure Land School”, is one of the largest and most widely practiced schools of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. It was founded by the monk Shinran (1173–1263), a former disciple of Hōnen, who also promoted Pure Land teachings.

The central tenet is reliance on the compassionate vow of Amida Buddha, who promised to save all beings who sincerely entrust themselves to him and recite his name (nembutsu – “Namu Amida Butsu”, meaning “I take refuge in Amida Buddha”).

Unlike some other Buddhist traditions that emphasize rigorous meditation or ascetic practices, Jōdo Shinshū teaches that salvation cannot be achieved through one’s own efforts (self-power, jiriki), but only through Amida’s grace (tariki, or “other-power”).]

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