The government made headlines by requesting a Tokyo District Court order to dissolve the Unification Church, a move expected to spark a long legal battle from the religious corporation.

However, the dissolution order, if finalized, will likely not be the death knell of the group now formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Insiders who have experienced such orders said the court-ordered dissolutions did not change much, even for a religious organization that carried out mass murder.

The requested order for the Unification Church concerns its dubious activities that caused huge and widespread damages to its followers and their families.

The order would cause the group to lose its status as a religious corporation and its tax exemptions, but it could still conduct its activities.

MYOKAKUJI: EFFECT WAS ‘LIMITED’

A former temple facility stands in a forested area on Mount Koyasan in Wakayama Prefecture, its exterior walls peeling off and cardboard boxes piled up inside.

This was the base of operations for the Myokakuji temple group, whose leader and executives were arrested in 1995 and 1996 on suspicion of defrauding the organization’s followers.

The temple charged exorbitant fees for memorial services to honor the deceased, and, like the Unification Church, was engaged in “spiritual sales.” Such sales could include expensive items to followers on promises that the goods would bring good fortune or provide protection from evil.

The temple received its dissolution order in 2002. According to the order, the group had about 30 affiliated temples and around 20,000 followers across Japan.

Lawyer Kazuhiro Seto served as the secretary-general of a legal group that sought relief for victims of Myokakuji temple.

He said that in 1998, before the dissolution order, the religious organization sold its main facility to Kongobuji temple, the main temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, for about 1.6 billion yen ($11 million).

The Myokakuji temple group had settled out of court with 325 victims nationwide who had sued for damages. It paid them around 1.1 billion yen using the funds from the sale of the facility.

The temple’s foundation as a religious corporation was already lost with the arrests of its leader and the sale of the facility, Seto said.

“The effect of the dissolution order was limited,” he said.

A man once considered the No. 2 leader in the group was acquitted of fraud charges. He now runs a printing company in western Japan.

“I think it was inevitable that our organization was forced to disband once it was discovered that we were pretending to have psychic abilities but actually didn’t,” he told The Asahi Shimbun.

He also indicated that the dissolution order was not the end of the religious group.

“There were those who were engaged in religious activities unrelated to fraud, like me, and I think they are still continuing their activities,” the man said.

A lawyer who represented the Myokakuji temple group at the time said the leader, who received a six-year prison sentence, visited the lawyer’s office to extend greetings after his release.

But his whereabouts have since been unknown.

According to an official of Kongobuji temple, the Myokakuji temple facility in Koyasan was used as a dormitory for temple staff until two years ago.

Kongobuji temple now uses it as a warehouse, the official said.

AUM SHINRIKYO CONTINUED PROSELYTIZING

Fumihiro Joyu, a former executive of Aum Shinrikyo, now heads Hikari-no-wa (circle of rainbow light), which was derived from the doomsday cult.

Joyu was arrested in 1995 on perjury and other suspicions and sentenced to three years in prison.

The murderous cult was also ordered to disband.

However, Joyu said, “The dissolution order did not cause significant damage to Aum Shinrikyo.”

After the dissolution order was finalized, the cults’ assets were placed under the control of a liquidator. Bankruptcy proceedings were initiated, and Aum Shinrikyo was required to vacate its facilities.

Joyu said an organization of followers continued their missionary activities using a rented property as a base.

“We had to evict ourselves from our own properties but were able to rent others,” he said. “The dissolution order increased our tax burden, but it did not have a significant impact on our religious activities.”

Before the dissolution order was finalized, the cult liquidated some real estate properties held under the name of the organization and cult guru Shoko Asahara, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto.

The cult also transferred some of its properties to affiliated companies.

Such moves were apparently taken to conceal Aum’s assets from liquidators before the dissolution order was finalized.

Taking this into account, Joyu said, “If the Unification Church changes the ownership of the organization’s assets to the names of its followers or transfers cash to its headquarters in South Korea, there is no risk of significant loss of assets.”

He continued, “Depending on the church’s response, the dissolution order may amount to nothing more than just stripping it of the corporation status.”

Matsumoto was executed in 2018 for masterminding several crimes, including the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 14 and sickened thousands.

Several other senior cultists were hanged for the group’ s crime spree.

The three successor and derivative groups of Aum Shinrikyo are currently under surveillance based on a law that requires them to report information about their members and assets to authorities.

Joyu claims that Hikari-no-wa has broken away from the doctrine of Aum Shinrikyo and is asking the government to revoke the surveillance.

According to the Public Security Intelligence Agency, the three groups combined currently have around 1,650 members and run 30 facilities across 15 prefectures.

Their assets amounted to around 300 million yen as of the end of October 2021.