Trapped and surrounded, Japanese Toru Goto faced a daily campaign by professional faith-breaker, family members and former believers to make him renounce his faith
Toru Goto speaking during the online conference by PnR-T on 19th September 2026. ScreenshotPart 4 of “My Experience of Abduction, Confinement, and Forced Deconversion”, a testimony on 19th September 2026 by Toru Goto (後藤徹), a Japanese member of the Family Federation and victim of attempted coercive faith-breaking – locked up for over 12 years in apartment turned prison. This first-hand witness account – of high relevance for the current dissolution case against the Family Federation in Japan – was delivered at a Zoom conference organized by Peace and Reconciliation Together (PnR-T), a Dutch-registered foundation focused on reconciliation, peacebuilding, dialogue, and healing historical conflicts.
Continued from part 1: Apartment Turned Prison: 12 Years to Break Faith
Continued from part 2: Escaped from 1st Confinement, But Abducted Again
Continued from part 3: Inside the Room Where They Tried to Break Faith
Continued in part 5: For 12 Years They Took My Freedom, Not My Faith
Continued in part 6: Thrown Out After Being Locked Up for 12 Years
Continued in part 7: The Grueling, Lonely 10-km Walk to Freedom
Continued in part 8: 12 Years Locked Up in Flat, Justice at Last
Several days later, Takashi Miyamura (宮村峻) appeared. It was our first meeting in approximately ten years. He had been involved in the faith-breaking efforts during my first confinement and had in addition played a major role in the “deprogramming” of my brother and sister as well.
Miyamura arrived with former members who had been taken away through abduction and confinement and had subsequently become involved in activities opposing the Family Federation, then called the Unification Church.
And from that point onward, the real battle began: a battle between those who sought to destroy my faith and me, as I struggled to preserve it. But at that point, I still had no idea just how intense that battle would become.
After Miyamura appeared, the atmosphere in the confinement room changed completely.
One of the many confinement apartments that existed all across Japan. Here, the location of the 8th floor apartment in Ogikubo, Tokyo where Toru Goto was held captive and dehumanized. Photo: National Association of Victims of Abduction, Confinement, and Forced DeconversionAt this point, I would like everyone to understand something important. This was not a discussion about religion taking place in a free and voluntary setting. I was locked inside an apartment. I could not freely leave through the front door, and the windows were also locked.
Even if I became tired of the discussion, I could not simply stand up and leave. I could not go outside and ask someone for help. There was no telephone, and I could not even send a letter. The people confronting me were free to leave the room whenever they wanted. But I was not free to leave.
It was under these circumstances that the faith-breaking efforts were carried out with the aim of making me renounce my faith.
See also Abducted for Their Faith: Japan’s Untold Story
Takashi Miyamura began coming every day at around 6 p.m., after dinner, bringing former members who had had their faith broken through abduction and confinement.
Miyamura, the former members, and my family would surround me.
At times, as many as twelve or thirteen people – my family, Miyamura, and former members – would gather in the Japanese-style room.
Plan of the apartment where Toru Goto was confined for approximately ten years. Illustration: Toru GotoPlease look at this diagram. (illustration to the right) The red circle represents me. The black circle represents Mr. Miyamura, and the blue circles represent my family and the former members.
This apartment was where I was confined for the final approximately ten years. My room was the Japanese-style room furthest from the entrance, at the very back of the apartment.
To get to the entrance, I would have had to pass through the kitchen and the Western-style rooms, and there were always family members along the way. The layout was such that if I headed toward the entrance, they would immediately notice and stop me. The entrance itself was locked with a chain and other restraints.
And this was on the eighth floor. Security locks had been installed on the windows, so I could not escape through them either.
In other words, if I tried to reach the entrance, my family would stop me, while escape through the windows was also impossible. It was a setting extremely convenient for those confining me.
I would sit in front of the table while criticism of the Church, the Unification Principles, and Father Moon was directed at me from all sides.
This would continue for about two hours, until around 8 p.m.
Miyamura called me names such as “idiot”, “stupid”, and “devil”. Abusive language came at me from every direction.
At one point, an agitated female former member threw hot tea in my face.
This was not a discussion. In a room from which I could not escape, one person was surrounded by a large group. It was nothing less than a collective attack – a form of psychological assault.
I could not stand it any longer and said:
“You are the ones violating human rights! What do you think freedom of religion means? Let me out of here!”
Miyamura replied:
“You have no right to claim human rights. I am not confining you. Your family is protecting you. If you want to be released, ask your family.”
I was also told that I would not be allowed to leave until I was capable of thinking for myself.
In the end, I was placed in a situation where I had no idea when my confinement would end unless I accepted what they were telling me and abandoned my faith.
What made it even more painful was that it was not only the words of Miyamura and the former members.
My own family, who until shortly before had been bringing me meals, also became involved in the faith-breaking efforts. My brother and sister verbally attacked me harshly. On one occasion, my brother pointed at me and shouted,
“If it were up to me, I’d beat you half to death!”
My sister also told me,
“If you keep this up, you’ll stay like this for the rest of your life, so you’d better be prepared.”
When I could no longer bear it and tried to get up from my seat, my brother grabbed me and forced me back down.
I pleaded with them:
“This is abduction and confinement. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution. Enough is enough. Let me out of here.”
My brother simply replied:
“This isn’t abduction and confinement. This is emergency protective custody.”
He would not listen to me at all.
There were also occasions when my brother slapped me.
Continued in part 5: For 12 Years They Took My Freedom, Not My Faith
Continued in part 6: Thrown Out After Being Locked Up for 12 Years
Continued in part 7: The Grueling, Lonely 10-km Walk to Freedom
Continued in part 8: 12 Years Locked Up in Flat, Justice at Last
Continued from part 1: Apartment Turned Prison: 12 Years to Break Faith
Continued from part 2: Escaped from 1st Confinement, But Abducted Again
Continued from part 3: Inside the Room Where They Tried to Break Faith
See also Abducted for Their Faith: Japan’s Untold Story
Featured image above: Toru Goto verbally abused by professional faith-breaker Takashi Miyamura in a dehumanizing way in locked room in Tokyo. Illustration: Dola AI, created for illustrative purposes 26th September 2026
Related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Lawfare: State Uses Legal System in War on Faith
More, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Scholar Questions Secrecy in Dissolution Case
And more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Shocked Author: “Japan Ignores Basics of Justice”
Still more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Legal Inconsistencies A Blow to Democracy
Even more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Court Accused of Using Speculation
Also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: MEXT’s Legal Spin and “Dissolution at All Costs”
Also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: UN Report: Japan’s Lawfare Against Faith Minority
And also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Protesting No Transparency in Closed-Door Trial
More, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Dangerous Flaws in Dissolution Order Decried
Also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: “Lawyers Lying and Shaming Japan” for 50 Years
And also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Japan Following the Way of China
And also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Japan’s Dissolution Case Echoes China’s Playbook
More, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Media/Legal Expert: Communism Behind Persecution
And more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Militant Lawyers Dictate Government Policy
More, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Collusion to Rob Minority of Its Rights
And more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: State and Media Creating “Today’s Non-Citizens”
Still more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Japan Copying China: State Seizure of Churches
And still more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: 12 Religious Freedom NGOs Denouncing Japan
More, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: 4300 Abductions and Forcible Detentions
And more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Japan: Families Fear for Graves of Loved Ones
Yet more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Lawyers Manipulating, Coercing, Lying
Also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Kishida Follows Anti-Family Federation Minister
Also related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Militant Lawyers Dictate Government Policy
Still more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Malicious One-Sided Government Source Selection
And still more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Japan Urged to Make U-Turn
And yet more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Dangerous Precedent to Crush Religions
Even more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Japan Following the Way of China
Yet more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Japanese Communists’ Final War
Still more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Political and Social Activism behind Oppression
Still more, related to Toru Goto trapped and surrounded: Dissolution Case: Rule of Law on Trial 4th March
