“Even 20 Years If Needed”: Believers Vow to Endure

“We have to turn this around even if it takes 10 or 20 years”: Japanese second-generation leader speaks out

Tokyo, 14^th August 2026 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.

“We’ll Turn This Around Over 10 or 20 Years”

Second-Generation Group Leader Speaks at Osaka Talk Event

by the editorial department of Sekai Nippo 

Nozomi Kojima (小嶌希晶), representative of the “Second-Generation Association for Protecting the Human Rights of Believers”, a group consisting primarily of second-generation members of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU, formerly the Unification Church), attended a talk event organized by believers in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, on 9^th August. Even after the decision to dissolve the religious organization, Kojima has continued her activities of communicating the voices of current members. She said,

“I hope this gathering will serve as an opportunity for us to encourage churches to hold events more actively, including events jointly involving different churches.”

Kojima recalled her feelings on 4^th March, when the Tokyo High Court decided to uphold the dissolution order against the organization. Describing her state of mind at the time, she said,

“As a believer, I was deeply saddened and felt that I no longer wanted to do anything.”

Nevertheless, she explained that she had continued her activities because “many people encouraged me by telling me that this would also have an impact on people belonging to other religions, and that we have to turn this around, even if it takes 10 or 20 years.”

Addressing approximately 350 believers gathered at the venue, Kojima said,

“Amid continuing anxiety and difficulties, I felt hopeful that so many people could come together across the boundaries between churches and spend this time together.”

Attorney Shinichi Tokunaga (徳永信一) also participated in the talk event. Referring to the High Court’s ruling and the arguments advanced by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and others, Tokunaga observed,

“They probably believed that the only way to rescue believers who were being subjected to ‘mind control’ [See editor’s note below] was to dissolve the religious organization, and that dissolving it would solve the problem.”

He then emphasized the importance of believers continuing to gather and act to protect their church even after its dissolution:

“Even if the Family Federation is dissolved, it is important for believers to come together and work to protect their church. The warm relationships in which everyone supports one another, and the way in which people practice their faith, have not changed at all.”

He continued:

“If we can show the people of Japan what the actual practice of our faith is like, we can overcome the difficult circumstances we are facing now.”

Featured image above:

[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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