Witch Hunt Compromises Safety for Believers

Safety for believers seriously compromised by Kishida administration’s campaign against religious minority

Tokyo, 8th August 2024 – Published as the 17th article in a series in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article

Series: Freedom of Religion Under Threat – Part 3: Believers Suffering Discrimination and Human Rights Violations

Graffiti perpetrator shows no remorse

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

See part 1: The Kishida Administration’s Reckless Actions: 1st article, 2nd article, 3rd article, 4th article, 5th article, 6th article

See part 2: Ripples to Local Assemblies: 7th article, 8th article, 9th article, 10th article, 11th article, 12th article, 13th article, 14th article, 15th article

See part 3: Believers Suffering Discrimination and Human Rights Violations: 16th article, 17th article, 18th article, 19th article, 20th article, 21st article, 22nd article

See part 4: Media Crossing the Line: 23rd article, 24th article, 25th article, 26th article, 27th article, 28th article

See part 5: The Distorted Image of the “Second-Generation”: 29th article, 30th article, 31st article, 32nd article, 33rd article, 34th article, 35th article, 36th article, 37th article, 38th article

See part 6: Voices of Religious Leaders: 39th article, 40th article, 41st article, 42nd article, 43rd article, 44th article, 45th article, 46th article

See part 7: Religion in Japan in a Global Context: 47th article, 48th article, 49th article, 50th article, 51st article, 52nd article, 53rd article, 54th article, 55th article

See Epilogue: 56th article, 57th article, 58th article

“I think many followers felt outraged when they heard that the perpetrator considered himself a hero fighting against evil.”

Those are the words of a male staff member of the Meijo Family Church (Meijo Church) of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. Two years ago, on the night of 15^th August 2022, the Meijo Church suffered vandalism, with graffiti spray-painted on its entrance doors, with words like “cult” and “danger”. This was a month after the shooting incident of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during a period when media’s bashing of the Family Federation was intensifying.

The Meijo Church was not the only one affected by graffiti. On the night of 14^th August 2022, the Ichinomiya Family Church (Ichinomiya Church) in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, about a 20-minute drive from the Meijo Church, also suffered graffiti damage on its walls with spray-painted messages like “Cult, get out!”, “Yamagami, Banzai!”, and “Traitors”. A male staff member of the Ichinomiya Church, who happened to arrive early to prepare for the meeting on the 15th, discovered the graffiti.

The Ichinomiya Police Station, which investigated the incident, arrested a man in his 40s who works for a company in Aichi Prefecture, based on footage from nearby security cameras. The man also admitted to the charges.

According to the man’s statement, his motives for the graffiti were “anger towards the Liberal Democratic Party‘s connection with a quasi-criminal religious organization” and “to make people aware of the malicious nature of the former Unification Church.” However, he also admitted that it was “a pastime during the Obon holiday” and that he thought “he might get attention by doing such things.”

The man had researched the religious organization through online searches and magazine articles, concluding that it was “nothing but a group of traitors sending large donations to Korea.” He felt a compulsion to take “action with a message”.

He looked up the location of the nearby Ichinomiya Church and, using the spray paint he had, he hid his face with sunglasses and graffitied words like “cult” on the wall of the place of worship late at night on the 14^th August 2022. He also painted over the nameplate of the church with black spray paint.

Feeling that he had managed to damage the religious organization, he decided to graffiti another place of worship. Using a map app, he drove to the Meijo Church in Nagoya City. He painted over the mailbox with black spray paint and left similar graffiti.

During the interrogation, the man expressed satisfaction with his graffiti acts, saying, “I am very pleased because I managed to challenge the corrupt relationship between politics and religion.” Judging by the content of his statement, he showed no sign of remorse. In September of the same year, he was fined 200,000 yen by a summary order from the Ichinomiya Summary Court for property damage and insult.

In February 2023, the Family Federation filed a civil lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court seeking damages. On 25^th January of this year, Judge Chieko Shimizu (清水知恵子) recognized defamation, stating that the expression “cult” lowered the social evaluation of the plaintiff, and ordered the man to pay approximately 590,000 yen, including repair costs for the two facilities.

The religious organization appreciates that the court recognized the expression “cult” as something that lowers social credibility. However, they are concerned that if a dissolution order is issued against the corporation, the situation could spiral out of control, and even worse damage is expected to occur.

After the graffiti incident, the Meijo Church instructed its members,

“Graffiti can be fixed, but if you encounter the perpetrator, anything could happen. If you find the perpetrator, do not make contact under any circumstances.”

Hatred towards the religious organization casts a dark shadow over the safety of its believers.

See part 1: The Kishida Administration’s Reckless Actions: 1st article, 2nd article, 3rd article, 4th article, 5th article, 6th article

See part 2: Ripples to Local Assemblies: 7th article, 8th article, 9th article, 10th article, 11th article, 12th article, 13th article, 14th article, 15th article

See part 3: Believers Suffering Discrimination and Human Rights Violations: 16th article, 17th article, 18th article, 19th article, 20th article, 21st article, 22nd article

See part 4: Media Crossing the Line: 23rd article, 24th article, 25th article, 26th article, 27th article, 28th article

See part 5: The Distorted Image of the “Second-Generation”: 29th article, 30th article, 31st article, 32nd article, 33rd article, 34th article, 35th article, 36th article, 37th article, 38th article

See part 6: Voices of Religious Leaders: 39th article, 40th article, 41st article, 42nd article, 43rd article, 44th article, 45th article, 46th article

See part 7: Religion in Japan in a Global Context: 47th article, 48th article, 49th article, 50th article, 51st article, 52nd article, 53rd article, 54th article, 55th article

See Epilogue: 56th article, 57th article, 58th article

Featured image above: Graffiti damage at Ichinomiya Family Church. Photo: Family Federation

Related to safety for believers compromised: Collusion to Rob Minority of Its Rights

And more, related to safety for believers compromised: State and Media Creating “Today’s Non-Citizens”

Yet more, related to safety for believers compromised: Malicious One-Sided Government Source Selection

Still more, related to safety for believers compromised: Japan Criticized for Glaring Rights Violations

Also related to safety for believers compromised: Inhuman Government-Supported Mass Deprogramming

Also related to safety for believers compromised: Scholar Condemns Violation of Minority Rights

Even more, related to safety for believers compromised: Japan Following the Way of China

And still more, related to safety for believers compromised: 12 Religious Freedom NGOs Denouncing Japan

And even more, related to safety for believers compromised: Conference on Religious Freedom Violations

Still more, related to safety for believers compromised: Japan: Threat to Religious Freedom

Even more, related to safety for believers compromised: Call to End Witch Hunt

More, related to safety for believers compromised: Government’s Foul Play Pointed Out

Yet more, related to safety for believers compromised: Japan Urged to Make U-Turn

More, related to safety for believers compromised: Japan: 4300 Abductions and Forcible Detentions

And more, related to safety for believers compromised: Illegalities of Activist Lawyers Exposed

Yet more, related to safety for believers compromised: Lawyers Manipulating, Coercing, Lying