Photo/Illutration A newly established liaison committee to discuss ways to help potential victims of the Unification Church convenes its first meeting on Aug. 18 in Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki district. (Yuri Murakami)

A new liaison committee to assist potential victims of the Unification Church will embark on a month-long, cross-sectional effort to do so starting from early September by hearing their stories. 

The committee held its first meeting on Aug. 18 attended by the four related government agencies--the Justice Ministry, the National Police Agency, the Consumer Affairs Agency and the Cabinet Secretariat.

Panel members discussed ways to tackle complaints associated with the religious group, now formally called Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

They shared information on consultation services set up at government agencies such as the Japan Legal Support Center, known as Houterasu, and local consumer centers.

It then decided to designate an approximate four-week period starting from early September as the month to make a strong effort to consult with victims.

Under the effort, officials who are in charge of the issue at each government agency will convene at locations and gather input on various problems.

Results of the consultations will be reported to the committee.

The committee said it will decide the details of the month-long effort as soon as possible, such as the dates and the locations.

The Consumer Affairs Agency will soon launch a panel to discuss the issue on its own at the direction of Taro Kono, who heads the agency.

The panel will discuss measures against psychic sales schemes called “reikan shoho” and “kaiun shoho” in general and review the agency’s past responses to complaints about the practices.

Hiroshi Watanabe, a lawyer who has represented people who are in trouble because of donations to the church, urged the central government to become serious about the issue.

“For the last time, I want the government to give proper attention to the (issue),” Watanabe said.

Watanabe said he represented a woman in her 80s who lives in the Kanto region.

The woman became a member of the Unification Church in the 1990s and spent tens of millions of yen on the church through donations and other means until she bolted in the late 2010s.

A church follower visited her at her home, obscured the true nature of the religious group and induced her to become a church member, Watanabe said.

During a study group and other types of meetings, the woman was told that her ancestors had bad karma and therefore bad things would happen to her offspring, prompting fears.

She was duped into buying a personal seal and Buddha statue to break free of the bad karma.

She donated her husband’s retirement bonus to the church, Watanabe said.

The church has claimed that it complied with the law and societal norms since 2009 in terms of hefty donations.

But the woman continued donating large amounts of money even after 2009, Watanabe said.

Watanabe in 2014 reported cases of victims such as the woman to the Cultural Affairs Agency and the Consumer Affairs Agency.

But he received no response from the government agencies, he said.

“I wanted them to realize the magnitude of damages, but I did not hear from the (agencies) for an interview or inquiry,” Watanabe said.

Regarding the liaison committee, Watanabe said he hopes the officials “set up consultation services and dispatch personnel with special skills to help the (victims).”

So Kimura, a lawyer who has consulted with people regarding large donations made to the church, said, “Until now, each government agency responded separately and it was difficult to share awareness.”

He added that the new government panel will be meaningless unless it strengthens civil remedies and works to restrict the group’s activities in order to deter illegal donations through using a religion as a camouflage.



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