“Believers, Raise Your Voice” – Masumi Fukuda gives a lecture in Tochigi On the theme of basic human rights of the Family Federation
Tokyo, 21st May 2024 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article
by the editorial department of the Sekai Nippo
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
Amidst increasing national persecution of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), a gathering of Tochigi Prefecture residents to consider basic human rights – organized by the Tochigi Prefecture Residents Association to Protect Basic Human Rights – was held on 19th May 2024 in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture.
Non-fiction writer Masumi Fukuda (福田ますみ) gave a commemorative lecture titled “‘Fabricated Truth’ – The True Colours Manipulated from the Shadows”. In her presentation, she condemned the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales (全国霊感商法対策弁護士連絡会 – Short form: Zenkoku Benren [全国弁連]), which is at the forefront of the persecution of the Family Federation. She described the lawyers’ network as “an organization hiding its true intent of crushing the Anti-Espionage Law”. Approximately 230 people attended the event.
Masumi Fukuda pointed out, “The general public does not know about the true nature of the abductions and confinements or the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales (Zenkoku Benren). It is a complete conspiracy.”
She called on the followers of the Family Federation, saying, “I want you to stop silently enduring this. You should take to the streets and demonstrate; each individual needs to raise his or her voice more.”
She also shared an episode where she three times called lawyer Masaki Kito for an interview about the abductions and confinements. He is known to hound the Family Federation. But she never got a response. “The abductions and confinements are lawyer Kito’s Achilles’ heel. This is where we need to attack,” Fukuda advised.
Toshikazu Masubuchi (増渕賢一) is the former Speaker of the Tochigi Prefectural Assembly and the event’s organizer. He spoke about Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also president of the Liberal Democratic Party and orders party members to sever ties with the Family Federation. Masubuchi said, “It is a blatant disregard for human rights, and it makes my blood boil.”
Masumi Fukuda (福田ますみ) is a Japanese non-fiction author and award-winning journalist, well known for her investigative journalism. She has written several in-depth reports about the persecution of the Family Federation in Japan and has exposed how the above-mentioned leftwing network of lawyers uses any means to have the Family Federation dissolved. Her articles have been published mainly in Japan, but several are republished by Bitter Winter, the international online magazine on religious freedom and human rights.