Christian leaders in Tokyo denounce complicity of churches in persecution of Family Federation and warn dissolution order threatens Japan’s religious freedom
Tokyo, 13th August 2025 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.
Christian Churches Urged to Apologize for Abductions and Confinements
Dissolution Order Against Family Federation Linked to Forces Opposed to Recognizing Abe’s Achievements
SALTY Opinion Site Hosts Meeting
by the Religious Freedom Investigative Team of the editorial department of Sekai Nippo
prepared by Knut Holdhus
A meeting to discuss the problems with the dissolution order against the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) was held in Tokyo on 11th August. The theme was “A Dissolution Order Threatening Freedom of Religion”. The event was organized by the Japanese Christian opinion site SALTY (Represented by Haruki Kinoshita (木下春樹), pastor of Aboshi Christ Church).
Tsutomu Nishioka (西岡力), Editor-in-Chief of SALTY and a specially appointed professor at Reitaku University, along with other Christians, agreed that churches should not remain silent about the dissolution order and should apologize for their involvement in abducting and confining Family Federation members in attempts to break their faith [See editor’s note below].
Nishioka harshly criticized the current state of Japan regarding the dissolution order, “Japan is no longer a nation under the rule of law, but a dangerous country ruled by the monster of public opinion. This is a serious challenge to the system of freedom and democracy.”
In July 2022, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (安倍晋三) was assassinated, “suddenly, Japanese society began persecuting the Family Federation.” Nishioka said he felt something was wrong from the very beginning, and, from the conviction that “we must not allow terrorists to achieve their goals,” he declared, “Remaining silent is not what a Christian should do. Those with a normal mind should be able to see that what is happening now is abnormal.”
He revealed that he has been sounding the alarm on this issue ever since. He analyzed the background of the persecution of the Family Federation, saying: “Some in the media and certain political forces did not want to acknowledge Abe’s achievements. They deliberately aimed to eliminate opportunities to talk about his accomplishments – and that’s exactly what ended up happening.”
Nishioka also argued that the Liberal Democratic Party “went along” with the movement to discredit Abe, which in turn led then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (岸田文雄) to arbitrarily reinterpret the law so that alleged wrongdoings according to civil law could be included among the requirements for dissolving a religious corporation.
“The whole country was brainwashed,” Nishioka said, comparing the situation to the Asahi Shimbun’s 1990s campaign about the alleged forced recruitment of wartime “comfort women” by the former Japanese military. He recalled how the public had been deceived when the media ran in one direction and the atmosphere of the times aligned with it – just as then Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa (宮澤喜一) had apologized eight times because the social circumstances left him with no choice.
Pastor Haruhisa Nakagawa (中川晴久) of Christian Church of the Lord’s Sheep (Yokohama) criticized the government’s decision, pointing out the human rights violations Family Federation believers have faced since the dissolution order: “Once one-sided reporting was aired, it should have been obvious that Family Federation believers would be subjected to religious hate and harassment.”
Nakagawa believes part of the responsibility for the dissolution order lies with the Christian churches. He stated that there are 205 pastors confirmed to have been involved in the abduction and confinement of Family Federation believers, and if those suspected (another 85) are included, the number rises to nearly 300. The majority of plaintiffs suing the religious organization for the return of donations are former believers who abandoned the faith after such abductions, and their lawsuits directly led to the dissolution request.
He argued, “This is the largest human rights violation in postwar Japan, and an apology alone is not enough.”
Nishioka agreed: “Even though the dissolution order is a serious problem for Christian churches as well, there’s no outcry. One reason may be that some were complicit in these abductions and confinements.”
On the leftward drift of churches, Pastor Ryuichi Sunagawa (砂川竜一) of Tsukishiro Christ Church (Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture) commented: “Because pastors have long been told not to get involved in politics, they’ve come to swallow whatever the media and newspapers say without question.”
He asserted that churches involved in abductions and confinements should apologize to the Family Federation, saying, “Only after that apology can Japan truly be restored.”
Nakagawa told this paper that many Christians, even if they haven’t spoken out, believe the dissolution order is wrong. Compared with right after the assassination, “the atmosphere has changed considerably,” expressing hope.
One pastor said that attending the meeting was motivated by the belief that “Remaining silent (about the dissolution order) is the same as participating in wrongdoing.”
About the Japanese Christian opinion site SALTY: Established in April 2018 as a space for Christian discourse. Born out of a sense of crisis regarding both society and the churches, it warns against the uncritical spread of Marxism and its ideology.
Featured image above: Tsutomu Nishioka (center) and Haruhisa Nakagawa (left) in discussion – 11th August 2025, Ochanomizu Christian Center, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
[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, Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist-based lay organization with more than 8 million Japanese members, and affiliated with Nichiren Buddhism, has also 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 a 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.]