Dissolution: Members’ Voices Ignored by Courts

Symposium dwells on public misconceptions about Family Federation and how lower court judges in dissolution case allowed current members’ voices to be completely ignored

Tokyo, 23rd October 2025 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.

“We Failed to Dispel Society’s Misconceptions”

Family Federation Chairman Tanaka Speaks on the Dissolution Order at Symposium in Toyama

by the editorial department of Sekai Nippo

See also Politics Fueled Japan’s Attack on Federation

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Tomihiro Tanaka (田中富広), chairman of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), gave a lecture at a public symposium held in Toyama City on 22^nd October.

He stated,

“Society looks at us through the lens of ‘mind control (brainwashing)’ [See editor’s note below] and ‘spiritual sales’, but we are now facing the consequences of having neglected, for 30 years, to counter or overcome those perceptions.”

He reflected that the Family Federation should have “created a social movement strong enough to dispel such images.”

Tanaka emphasized that in the court case over the government’s dissolution order, the voices of active members have been completely ignored. He pointed out that although 2,649 public comments were submitted regarding the liquidation guidelines following the decision to dissolve the religious organization, they have all been disregarded on the grounds that they resemble arguments made by members online — despite the Federation not having organized any coordinated submission effort.

He explained that the Family Federation has long been engaged in efforts to overcome three global challenges:

1. The rise of communism, which denies God,
2. Corruption within the religious world, and
3. The moral decline of youth.

He added,

“If the religious organization has anything to reflect upon, it is that we failed to channel the energy we directed toward the world into our own local communities and families.”

The symposium was hosted by the Toyama Prefecture Peace Ambassadors Council and held at the Family Federation’s Toyama Family Church. About 270 people attended.

See also Appealing Verdict Based on Mind Control Myth

See also Japan: Establishing A New Compensation Committee

See also Buddhist head: “Donations as Spiritual Training”

See also Press Release: Final Submission to Appeal Court

See also Long-Running Donation Claims Settled in Japan

Featured image above: Family Federation Chairman Tomihiro Tanaka (left) speaks about the unfairness of the dissolution order 22^nd October 2025, at Toyama Family Church. To the right, another speaker at the symposium, Pastor Haruhisa Nakagawa (中川晴久) of Christian Church of the Lord’s Sheep (Yokohama). Photo: Tsuyoshi Toyoda (豊田剛)

[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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