Japan: Abusive State to Shape Children’s Beliefs

Human rights expert rings alarm bells over Japan’s abusive approach to families belonging to large religious minority Family Federation

In the second installment of her Bitter Winter series, published on 2^nd June 2026 and examining the consequences of Japan’s campaign against the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), international human rights attorney Patricia Duval argues that the controversy has progressed beyond efforts to dissolve the religious organization and entered a far more sensitive and consequential arena: the relationship between parents, children, and the state. According to Duval, recent government policies and public statements suggest an agenda that extends beyond regulating a religious movement, aiming instead to influence the beliefs, values, and identities of the children raised within it.

More from Duval: Japan Breaking Faith of Children of Believers

More from Duval: Japan’s Next Step: Indoctrination of Children

More from Duval: When Raising Children in Faith Turns Suspicious

On the first installment in Duval’s series: Beyond Dissolution: A Religious Purge in Japan?

On the first installment in Duval’s series: Next Target After Dissolution: Believers’ Rights

More from Duval: Religious Freedom in Jeopardy After Dissolution

The author notes that international human rights law recognizes not only freedom of religion but also the rights of parents to direct the moral and religious education of their children. This principle reflects the understanding that families play a primary role in transmitting values, traditions, and beliefs across generations. While governments may intervene in cases of genuine abuse or neglect, Duval argues that disagreement with a family’s religious convictions does not constitute a legitimate basis for state interference.

Particularly troubling to her is the characterization of so-called “second-generation believers” [See editor’s note below]. In the rhetoric of some “anti-cult” campaigners, individuals raised in religious households are portrayed as people who remain psychologically constrained by doctrines learned in childhood and who require assistance to escape them. Duval argues that such language presumes the invalidity of the beliefs themselves and denies the possibility that adults may freely choose to retain the faith in which they were raised. Under this logic, continued adherence becomes evidence of indoctrination rather than an expression of personal conviction. Paris-based attorney Duval points out,

“The argument that second generation followers [See editor’s note below] ‘suffer’ and need help is a fabrication designed to justify the indoctrination of these children in Japanese public schools. The following developments show that, in reality, if there is any suffering, it is the result of the Japanese authorities’ policy of stigmatization and the destruction of families.”

The article also scrutinizes a government support plan introduced after the controversy surrounding the Family Federation intensified. Duval maintains that the measures outlined in the plan are directed largely toward children of believers, whom authorities appear to regard as potential victims requiring intervention. She contends that these policies are premised on the assumption that religious education within Family Federation families is inherently harmful and that children should be encouraged to distance themselves from the worldview of their parents.

Ultimately, Duval’s argument is that the current trajectory of Japanese policy raises profound questions about the limits of state power in a democratic society. While governments have a legitimate interest in protecting children from abuse, she insists that this responsibility must be balanced against fundamental freedoms. The danger, in her assessment, is that efforts presented as child protection may actually be a campaign against religious transmission itself, particularly when directed at a disfavored minority faith. Duval writes,

“It is clear from this explanation that the goal is to prevent the children of Unification Church members from becoming believers and followers of that religion in the future.”

This second article therefore frames the debate not simply as a dispute about one religious movement but as a broader test of principles that affect all families. If the state can classify the religious education provided by one group of parents as a form of harmful indoctrination because it conflicts with prevailing social norms, Duval suggests, the precedent may eventually extend far beyond the Family Federation. The questions raised concern who has the authority to shape children’s beliefs. Duval has a clear answer,

“Yet it is precisely the right of parents to educate their children in accordance with their own convictions that States Parties, including Japan, have sought to protect through Article 18(4) of the ICCPR: ‘The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.’”

More from Duval: Japan Breaking Faith of Children of Believers

More from Duval: Japan’s Next Step: Indoctrination of Children

More from Duval: When Raising Children in Faith Turns Suspicious

On the first installment in Duval’s series: Beyond Dissolution: A Religious Purge in Japan?

On the first installment in Duval’s series: Next Target After Dissolution: Believers’ Rights

More from Duval: Religious Freedom in Jeopardy After Dissolution

See also Japan: Only Freedom to Believe, Not to Practice

See also Corporation Dissolved – Organization Remains

Text: Knut Holdhus, editor

Featured image above: Second-generation members [See editor’s note below] of the Family Federation in Japan at a demonstration for religious freedom outside the parliament (Diet), protesting against abusive state persecution, 4^th May 2025. Photo: FFWPU  

[Editor’s note: The term “second-generation members” generally refers to people who were raised in a religion by parents who belonged to a religious organization, rather than joining it themselves as adults.]

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