Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi addresses the first meeting of a liaison council for government ministries formed to address problems related to the former Unification Church on Aug. 18. (Yuri Murakami)
Many adherents of the former Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and their families are struggling with complicated and serious problems.
These include poverty due to massive donations to the church, family breakdowns and deep mental struggles that demand medical care. Dealing effectively with these problems requires a long period of meticulous efforts based on expertise.
How well is the government aware of this harsh reality?
To help victims of the religious group’s so-called “reikan shoho,” or spiritual sales of goods or services claimed to bring supernatural benefits to the buyers, the government last week set up a liaison council.
The council includes the Justice Ministry, the National Police Agency, the Consumers Affairs Agency and the Cabinet Secretariat’s Office for Loneliness and Isolation.
But no encouraging signs of an effective policy response to the serious problem emerged from the council’s first meeting.
At the meeting, it was announced that the first effort will entail a one-month campaign in which officials in charge will provide advice and counsel to victims, scheduled to be launched in early September.
This is nothing but a halfhearted, makeshift measure.
It is highly doubtful whether the Kishida administration is really serious about wrestling with this tricky challenge.
A series of revelations have cast light on the relationship between the church and Cabinet members and Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers. These revelations, combined with public distrust of the politicians failing to explain their ties with the group, have created strong political headwinds for Kishida.
This is happening a month or so before a planned state funeral at the end of September for assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is believed to have had close ties with the church.
If the new liaison council is designed simply to defuse public criticism by giving the impression that the administration is doing something about the problem, it should be described as a ploy to deceive the people.
The National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, a group of lawyers who have monitored the reikan shoho activities of the Unification Church and supported its alleged victims since it was founded 35 years ago in response to social problems caused by the fraudulent sales approach, has some 300 members nationwide.
The network helps victims recover their financial damages and sever their ties with the church.
To grasp the entire picture of how victims have suffered from their devotion to the church, the network seeks the support of psychologists and other experts to help followers liberate themselves, through a lengthy process, from the dogma inculcated into their minds.
In the past, the church earned much of its revenue from selling pots and seals to followers at exorbitant prices by misleading them, according to the network of lawyers.
After this dubious practice started drawing attention from law enforcement authorities and triggering their actions, the church issued a “declaration of compliance” in 2009 and switched its fund-raising strategy to seeking donations from followers by offering to “dissolve the hatred vibes” of their ancestors that were causing them trouble.
The total of confirmed financial damages linked to the group during the past five years has surpassed 5.4 billion yen ($39.4 million), the network says.
Since the Cultural Affairs Agency allowed the church to change its name in 2015, the problem has become less visible. After the assassination of Abe, whom the suspected killer regarded as a “sympathizer” of the religious group, however, the number of requests for advice received by the network has shot up.
A 2018 revision to the consumer contract law has made it possible for consumers to cancel their contracts to buy items sold through the reikan shoho tactics. But it is not easy to have financial contributions and donations recognized as acts under “contracts.”
There is no effective system to provide relief to victims of this fraudulent practice in line with the realities.
The government needs to accurately grasp the picture of dubious fund-raising activities of the group and sort out the related issues to take actions that are possible under the current legal system and identify those that require legal changes.
To create an environment where victims can seek relief without feeling anxiety, the government should unveil as soon as possible the course of action it will take in the coming months.
The education ministry, which is in charge of governing religious organizations and activities, and the health ministry, which is responsible for the welfare of children, should also be involved in dealing with the problem.
The Kishida administration’s commitment to tackling this challenge is facing a major test.
The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 25
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14702743
