The silent war on faith: Infiltration, coercion, and the erosion of religious freedom – How faith-breakers abducted thousands by using deprogrammed believers
Tokyo, 17th June 2025 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.
Chain Abductions of Believers Triggered by a Stolen List
Family Federation Targeted
by the Religious Freedom Investigative Team of the editorial department of Sekai Nippo
prepared by Knut Holdhus
“Deprogramming” [See editor’s note below], where believers are forcibly restrained and coerced into renouncing their religion, is internationally recognized as a violation of human rights. In Japan, some Christian pastors and others hostile to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) have carried out deprogramming [See editor’s note below] by using believers’ families. As former believers who had been deprogrammed [See editor’s note below] renounced their faith, a “chain reaction” of abductions and confinements of other members occurred. Testimonies from believers who were present at the time reveal how the damage from deprogramming [See editor’s note below] rapidly escalated.
“I was constantly filled with anger of having my faith stripped from me, and with anxiety because I didn’t know whom I could turn to.”
So says 61 years old Shinichi Ishimura (石村信一), the head of a Family Federation church in Kita Ward, Tokyo. Around 30 years ago, he led youth believers at a church in Adachi Ward. At its peak, over 200 young believers were active there – not only in missionary work but also in events designed to build fellowship. He recalls, “We have so many good memories – gathering around dinner while someone played guitar, holding monthly birthday parties where teams put on performances.”
But between 1992 and 2001, he laments, “Just from our church alone, close to 100 members may have been forcibly detained.”
Starting in 1998, new believers – those who had only just joined – began being abducted and confined in rapid succession. Over a period of less than two years, at least 18 individuals were victimized. Some were even abducted just steps away from church facilities.
Upon investigating, a shocking possibility emerged: “A member list may have been stolen.” Testimony from believers who escaped from confinement revealed that a former male member, Mr. A, appeared at the site and said:
“I got my hands on the list of believers. More abductions are being planned.”
“They’ll fall away like dominoes,” he added, using the phrase “imozuru-shiki” (芋づる式 – dragged down in a chain reaction).
Mr. A had himself been abducted and deprogrammed [See editor’s note below] in July 1998. Then, one day in September, he seemingly entered the church while no one was around. Ishimura explains, “We found a note from Mr. A in the staff room along with books he had borrowed.”
If he had indeed obtained a list of believers, “He could have easily copied down addresses from that room, either by hand or with a copier,” Ishimura sighs.
Friends who had shared dreams and ideals were abducted and confined one after another – and then renounced their faith without saying a word.
Ishimura’s expression became somber as he said, “I was truly devastated – I couldn’t bear it.”
He says the pain of those events still lingers deep within him.
Similar chain abductions occurred in Osaka as well. Around 1992, Yoshio Shibata (pseudonym, 50s) served as a church leader in Osaka City. At that time, a female believer, Ms. B, returned after having been abducted.
While her safe return was initially a relief, strange incidents soon followed: Believers walking alone were abducted in broad daylight on the street. It seemed as though the routes and timings of their movements were fully known to the deprogrammers, and 7–8 members were eventually abducted and forcibly confined.
The truth came to light when another abducted believer managed to escape. That person later attended an anti-Family Federation meeting held by deprogrammers and saw Ms. B there. She was introduced as someone who had “helped in the rescue”.
“In other words, Ms. B was a spy,” Shibata says.
After this story spread among the congregation, Ms. B quickly disappeared. Shibata says the incident left lasting scars. In 1994, another female believer returned from where she’d been confined. But overcome with suspicion – wondering if she might be a spy – I even confronted her in front of the other members.
“I still wonder,” Shibata murmurs.
“Was she doing it willingly? Did she volunteer to help them? Or was she coerced into it as a kind of test of loyalty? Now, no one can really know.”
Featured image above: Passageway near the site where young Family Federation believers were abducted and confined – Adachi Ward, Tokyo. Photo: Takahide Ishii (石井孝秀)
[Editor’s note: Coercive faith-breaking (“deprogramming”) in Japan refers to the practice of coercively attempting to separate individuals from their religious affiliations or beliefs, typically through intervention by family members, professional faith-breakers (deprogrammers) or organizations hostile to new religious movements (NRMs). This phenomenon often targets members of such movements, e.g. relatively large faiths like the Family Federation or Jehovah’s Witnesses, but also smaller groups like Happy Science (Kōfuku no Kagaku) and other newer religious movements.
However, also Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist-based lay organization with more than 8 million Japanese members, and affiliated with Nichiren Buddhism, has occasionally been subject to faith-breaking attempts.
The practice gained attention in the latter half of the 20th century, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. Parents or concerned family members often hired faith-breakers who taught them how to abduct and forcibly detain believers. Almost all such cases involved confining the individual believer and cutting him or her off from the religious community. During the confinement, the believer was subjected to intense questioning or indoctrination designed to break his or her faith. The aim was to “rescue” the person from what the family often had been tricked by faith-breakers or lawyers to regard as harmful influence from the religious organization.
Critics of forced de-conversion argue that it violates fundamental human rights, including freedom of thought, religion, and association. Reports of psychological trauma and accusations of unlawful detention have sparked debates over its ethical and legal implications. In response, some religious groups, particularly NRMs, have lobbied for greater protections against such practices.
Japanese courts have been inconsistent in addressing cases of coercive faith-breaking. While some verdicts have condemned the practice as illegal detention, others have been more lenient, citing family concerns about “mental health” or alleged “exploitation” as mitigating factors.]