Sinister Tactics of Faith-Breaking Exposed

Japanese man locked up for more than 12 years exposes sinister tactics behind dehumanizing and illegal faith-breaking allowed by authorities

Part 2 of a talk given 10^th February 2025, in Tokyo, at the official launch of the book “Deadly Struggle: Surviving 4,536 Days of Confinement” by Toru Goto (後藤徹), held captive for 12 years and 5 months in an attempt to have his faith broken.

See part 1, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

See also Apartment Prison: Faith-Breaking in Modern Japan

What I’m about to share is my personal experience. I may be one of the more well-known victims of confinement, but even if just one person were to go through this, it would still be absolutely unacceptable. This is a grave violation of human rights and a criminal act. I hope you all understand that many others have suffered experiences similar to mine.

(Pointing to screen) This is the apartment where I was confined. We are currently in Suginami Ward, and this apartment is also located within Suginami. I was locked up on the 8th floor.

The most common method of locking someone up is using a security chain with a padlock on the front door. This makes it impossible to leave. Windows are also secured using special locks and security devices. There are many ways to secure a person inside. In my case, every single window was locked, making it impossible to open any of them.

This is the floor plan of the actual apartment where I was confined.

The layout was conveniently suited for confinement. I was told to stay in the bottommost room (pointing at the diagram). The blue dots represent where my family members stayed.

It turns out that multiple floors of this building were used in the exact same way – to abduct and confine Unification Church believers. This has been confirmed.

Earlier, President Tanaka [Editor’s note: Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Family Federation in Japan] also mentioned this, but the ones who physically carry out these abductions and confinements are the family members – parents, siblings.

However, abductions and confinements don’t happen with just the family alone. There is always a third-party intervention. There are masterminds behind these abductions.

Looking at the United States, in the 1970s and 1980s, there were countless cases of coercive faith-breaking — what is known in English as deprogramming. And the people who carried it out were called deprogrammers. Ted Patrick is considered the founder of deprogramming.

In the U.S., deprogrammers personally took action. They physically kidnapped people. Ted Patrick himself was convicted in seven criminal cases.

Eventually, the organization he founded was legally dismantled and declared bankrupt. By the end of the 20th century, deprogramming had effectively disappeared from the U.S.

However, in Japan, the practice of coercive faith-breaking (forced de-conversion) – what is carried out by so-called faith-breakers (“exit counselors”) or 脱会屋 (dakkaiya) – has, in a way, “succeeded”.

Why? Why have so many people been forced to leave their faith?

As we discussed earlier, in reality, faith-breakers (deprogrammers) are behind this, thoroughly instructing the parents with claims like,

• “The believer will become a criminal.” – This is false information.
• “The believer is under mind control.” – This has never been recognized in court.

In fact, the faith-breaking itself can be said to use tactics based on “mind control”.

Parents are told, “Your son (or daughter) is being mind-controlled.” This is a pseudo-scientific concept. The faith-breakers tell the parents that it’s difficult for their son or daughter to escape on their own. This is how the father and mother are instructed.

As was mentioned earlier, they are told, “You, the parents, are the problem.” And when they ask, “Then what should we do?” they are told, “It’s impossible for amateurs. You have no choice but to leave it to experts.”

When the parents ask what they should do, the faith-breakers resort to the term “protective persuasion” (保護説得). This concept is extremely problematic. What the parents are actually taught/instructed boils down to abduction and confinement.

However, this deceptive term “protective” numbs you to the fact that these are criminal and unlawful acts; they are illegal. Yet you are dazed by the word “protective” (保護).

As a result, many parents have resorted to abduction and confinement.

In Japan, the faith-breakers (deprogrammers) do not directly take action themselves. Instead, they make the parents, family members, and relatives carry it out.

However, I would like to consider for a moment why abduction and confinement is necessary. The bottom line is that you cannot get someone to leave a religion unless you abduct and confine them. I think this is almost always the case when it comes to religion.

But can you simply persuade someone to quit his faith? No, you can’t.

Even Jesus said in the Bible:

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16,25, New International Version)

Religious persons dedicate their whole being, their entire life, to their faith. They love their religious beliefs as the core of their identity and stake their entire life on it.

They do not follow their faith as a mere hobby. Therefore, no amount of external persuasion will make them quit.

To force someone to abandon the precious treasure one’s faith is, one must be physically restrained. That was the conclusion they arrived at.

In the end, the method is to isolate them, confine them, manipulate the information they receive, feed them only one-sided information, and pressure them into renouncing their faith. There is no other way.

How many years this takes is uncertain. But in order to destroy someone’s faith within a matter of months, there is no choice but to restrain them physically. That was the conclusion. That is why abduction and confinement became so widespread.

Continued in part 3.

See part 1, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

See also Apartment Prison: Faith-Breaking in Modern Japan

Featured image above: Toru Goto at the official launch 10th February 2025, of his book “Deadly Struggle: Surviving 4,536 Days of Confinement”. Photo: Screenshot from videorecording of the event.

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