Strong media bias causes domestic violence and family rifts for members of religious minorities in Japan
Tokyo, 14th August 2024 – Published as the 19th article in a series in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article
Family Rifts and Forced Renunciation of Inheritance
by the Religious Freedom Investigative Team of the editorial department of Sekai Nippo
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
Due to critical reports about the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly known as the Unification Church), rifts have deepened between believers and their non-believing family members and relatives. There have been instances where parents, influenced by the negative reports, have forced their son or daughter to sign documents expressing that he or she intends to renounce the faith.Seventeens article, Eighteens article,
Hideaki Kimura (木村英明), a 41-years old man who lives in Kumamoto Prefecture, was asked by his father two years ago to sign a paper stating, “I will leave the church within five years.” Reluctantly, he signed his name. While preparing to return to his hometown from Tokyo and considering living with his parents, the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe occurred.
Some of the claims made by his strongly opposed father were not based on facts, but what particularly hurt was being told that he would not act as a “guarantor”. To join the company he had secured a job with after returning home, he needed his parents to act as guarantors. However, his father went as far as to say, “If you don’t quit, I’ll call the company and tell them not to hire you because you’re a member of the Unification Church.”
Seeing this, his mother intervened, saying, “This is a violation of human rights.” Eventually, the situation was temporarily resolved when Kimura signed a pledge prepared by his father, as a condition for his father to act as a guarantor.
There has also been domestic violence motivated by religious beliefs. Mitsuyo Adachi (a pseudonym, in her 70s), who lives in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is a believer whose husband opposes the Family Federation. While usually calm, he becomes irritable and violent towards Adachi whenever he sees critical reports about the Family Federation.
Two years ago, and again last year, he assaulted her, saying things like “You’ve ruined my life!” This resulted in Adachi suffering a fractured rib. However, she did not tell her husband about this and even concealed it at the hospital where she was treated, claiming it was an indoor accident caused by carelessness.
Adachi says, “Although I fear the violence might worsen, I wanted to forgive rather than hate, so I never brought up the topic of violence.”
However, she worries that if the dissolution order for the Family Federation is confirmed, her husband’s opposition might become even more intense.
Some believers have been forced by relatives to renounce their inheritance. Akio Niikura (a pseudonym, in his 50s), living in the Chugoku region, was once nearly abducted and confined by relatives aiming to forcibly de-convert him.
Although the attempt ultimately failed, he continued to maintain steady contact with his parents afterward. When his mother fell ill, it was Niikura’s wife who first noticed something was wrong and provided care. She recalls, “At first, when we visited, we were given a cold reception. But as we continued to persevere, my mother-in-law, while she was still alive, eventually asked my husband a few times if he would consider returning home.”
However, due to intense negative media coverage, the attitudes of his relatives, including his father, drastically changed. Last year, when Niikura and his wife attended the third anniversary of his mother’s passing, his father told him, “If you don’t leave the Family Federation, we will cut ties with you. You must renounce your inheritance!” Surrounded by relatives, Niikura was pressured into signing a document indicating his intention to forfeit his inheritance.
Niikura expressed his frustration, saying, “My father blindly believed what was reported on TV about the Family Federation. As the eldest son, he feared that I would take over the family home and turn it into a meeting place for the federation. He even suspected that there were ulterior motives behind the care my wife provided for my mother.”
Niikura’s wife also expressed her anger, saying, “More than being forced to give up the inheritance, what’s truly painful is to see the trust we built over decades being shattered and being treated like criminals.”
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