MEXT’s Legal Spin and “Dissolution at All Costs”

Legal spin: Education Ministry stretched law to justify Family Federation dissolution, building their case on past violations alone

Tokyo, 15th September 2025 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.

[Series] Order to Dissolve the Family Federation: Examining the District Court’s Decision (Part 2) 

Citing Own Legal Interpretation, Education Ministry Disregards Reforms

by the Religious Freedom Investigative Team of the editorial department of Sekai Nippo

See part 1: Dissolution Case: Inflated Damages, Forced Logic

See part 3: Court Ignored Awkward Facts in Dissolution Case

See part 4: Court Applies Unique Criteria for Dissolution

See Japan: 2nd-Gen Believers Being Abused in Schools

See also Demonization by Media of Faith Minority Decried

See also The Marxist Transformation of Higher Education

The second major issue with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)’s request to dissolve the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU, formerly the Unification Church) lies in its peculiar interpretation of the dissolution requirements.

MEXT interpreted Article 81, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the Religious Corporations Act – which states that dissolution can be ordered if a group has “committed acts in violation of laws and regulations that are clearly recognized as seriously harming public welfare” – as not requiring any current violation. Presumably because the clause ends in the past tense “committed,” the ministry went so far as to assert:

“It is sufficient to establish the existence of past legal violations, and whether subsequent improvements have been made or whether there is a risk of recurrence should not be questioned.”

This position is explicitly recorded in the Tokyo District Court’s decision under “Summary of the Petitioner’s Claims.” However, it was absent from the document MEXT released to the press on 12^th October 2023, titled “On the Request for a Dissolution Order for the Religious Corporation Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.” It seems unlikely that the court would misstate such a basic point of fact, so this wording must indeed reflect MEXT’s actual argument.

If so, MEXT’s stance is that the Family Federation meets the dissolution criteria simply by virtue of legal violations committed decades ago, mainly reflected in past civil court judgments. By relying on the past-tense wording “committed acts” in the statute, the ministry effectively declared from the outset that it would ignore any improvements after the group’s 2009 “Compliance Declaration”. [See editor’s note below] This reveals a “dissolution at all costs” approach – a strained and forced argument.

Did journalists who relayed MEXT’s announcement to the media understand this position? And was the Religious Corporations Council aware of it when it unanimously endorsed the request for dissolution as “appropriate” (per the statement of then-Education Minister Masahito Moriyama (盛山正仁 – see featured image above) on the same day)?

Professor Tsutomu Nishioka (西岡力) of the Institute of Moralogy’s Moral Science Research Center wrote in the December 2023 issue of Seiron magazine that many religious committee members found it unbelievable that no dissent was raised, and that they even “felt fear”. A thorough review seems necessary.

In any case, MEXT’s request for dissolution contained a serious omission. When former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (岸田文雄) revised the interpretation of the law to include “torts under civil law” as grounds for dissolution, he emphasized prerequisites such as the organizational nature, maliciousness, and continuity of the acts. Yet there was no examination of “continuity” in particular, especially after the 2009 Compliance Declaration. [See editor’s note below]

According to the court decision, MEXT argued in the alternative:

“Even if it were necessary to assess the situation after the Compliance Declaration […] the measures have not proven effective, there has been no essential reform of the organization’s nature, and the conclusion would not be affected.”

But the ministry provided no concrete verification of this claim.

Instead, it submitted evidence such as 261 written statements from former believers. However, excluding the eight second-generation former believers who drafted their own statements, only 19 of the 253 first-generation former believers joined the Family Federation after the Compliance Declaration. [See editor’s note below] About 90% had joined more than 15 years earlier, and some had left decades ago.

Of those 19, 18 statements were not self-written but drafted by MEXT staff after interviews, with the names later added by the supposed declarants (according to the website of the Family Federation in Japan).

Furthermore, some former members named as declarants even filed criminal complaints against ministry staff, claiming that their statements included things they had never said. This ultimately undermines public trust in a national institution.

See part 1: Dissolution Case: Inflated Damages, Forced Logic

See part 3: Court Ignored Awkward Facts in Dissolution Case

See part 4: Court Applies Unique Criteria for Dissolution

See also Demonization by Media of Faith Minority Decried

See Japan: 2nd-Gen Believers Being Abused in Schools

See also The Marxist Transformation of Higher Education

Featured image above: Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahito Moriyama speaks after signing an historic agreement between the United States and Japan to advance sustainable human exploration of the Moon, 9th April 2024, at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington. Photo: NASA Headquarters / NASA/Bill Ingalls / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain image. Cropped

[Editor’s note 1: The 2009 compliance declaration of the Unification Church of Japan (now the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) was a formal commitment by the organization to reform its practices in response to longstanding public criticism and legal challenges.

The Unification Church in Japan had faced numerous allegations related to recruitment tactics and donation solicitation, termed “spiritual sales” (霊感商法) by a hostile network of activist lawyers who had declared the religious organization an enemy. These issues led to multiple lawsuits orchestrated by the activist lawyers and significant media backlash. This prompted the organization to take measures to restore its reputation and demonstrate compliance with legal and ethical standards.

The religious organization pledged to stop possibly unethical donation practices, including what the hostile network of lawyers claimed amounted to “pressuring members into making large financial contributions under spiritual pretexts.”

This was in response to accusations from the same activist lawyers that followers “were being manipulated into giving away substantial amounts of money or property.”

The Unification Church stated it would enhance internal oversight to ensure compliance with ethical and legal standards. Measures included better training for leaders and stricter guidelines for evangelization and solicitation of donations.

After this compliance declaration, there was a significant decrease in the number of lawsuits against the Unification Church – since 2015 called the Family Federation. The religious organization has used this as evidence that it has improved its practices and should not be subject to dissolution.]

Related to legal spin and dissolution: Lawfare: State Uses Legal System in War on Faith

Also related to legal spin and dissolution: UN Report: Japan’s Lawfare Against Faith Minority

And also related to legal spin and dissolution: Protesting No Transparency in Closed-Door Trial

More, related to legal spin and dissolution: Dangerous Flaws in Dissolution Order Decried

Also related to legal spin and dissolution: “Lawyers Lying and Shaming Japan” for 50 Years

And also related to legal spin and dissolution: Japan Following the Way of China

And also related to legal spin and dissolution: Japan’s Dissolution Case Echoes China’s Playbook

More, related to legal spin and dissolution: Media/Legal Expert: Communism Behind Persecution

And more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Militant Lawyers Dictate Government Policy

More, related to legal spin and dissolution: Collusion to Rob Minority of Its Rights

And more, related to legal spin and dissolution: State and Media Creating “Today’s Non-Citizens”

Still more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Japan Copying China: State Seizure of Churches

And still more, related to legal spin and dissolution: 12 Religious Freedom NGOs Denouncing Japan

More, related to legal spin and dissolution: 4300 Abductions and Forcible Detentions

And more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Japan: Families Fear for Graves of Loved Ones

Yet more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Lawyers Manipulating, Coercing, Lying

Also related to legal spin and dissolution: Kishida Follows Anti-Family Federation Minister

Also related to legal spin and dissolution: Militant Lawyers Dictate Government Policy

Still more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Malicious One-Sided Government Source Selection

Yet more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Kishida’s Self-Defeating Populist Decisions

And still more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Japan Urged to Make U-Turn

And yet more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Dangerous Precedent to Crush Religions

And even more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Tendentious Reporting by New York Times

Still more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Japan Criticized for Glaring Rights Violations

Even more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Japan Following the Way of China

Yet more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Japanese Communists’ Final War

Still more, related to legal spin and dissolution: Political and Social Activism behind Oppression