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
Graffiti perpetrator shows no remorse
by the Religious Freedom Investigative Team of the editorial department of Sekai Nippo
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
“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 15th 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 14th 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 14th 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 25th 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.
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Featured image above: Graffiti damage at Ichinomiya Family Church. Photo: Family Federation