CultNEWS101 Articles: 8/19/2025

Unification Church, Legal, Japan, SGA, Gabriel of Urantia

Mainichi: 'Second-gen' of Unification Church members in Japan sue for 320 million yen in damages

"Eight individuals who are the children of followers of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly the Unification Church, filed a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on July 24 seeking a total of about 320 million yen (roughly $2.19 million) in damages from the religious organization.

These "second-generation" members claim that their parents prevented them from making free decisions and caused them severe psychological harm. The plaintiffs hold the church responsible rather than their parents, arguing that the parents' actions were strongly influenced by the church's teachings.

According to the plaintiffs' attorney, this is believed to be the first class action by second-generation members. The plaintiffs argue, "The church instructed parents to prioritize religious practice over the human rights of their children, severely distorting the environment in which the second generation grew up. These children suffered abusive acts that violated their rights to freedom of religion and marriage, among others."

The issue of second-generation members suffering due to their parents' religious beliefs gained national attention after the July 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Nara. Tetsuya Yamagami, who was charged with murder and other offences in the shooting, reportedly claimed his family was destroyed by his mother's deep involvement with the Unification Church."

AsahiShimbun: Unification Church land seized for donation refunds

"A Tokyo court has approved the provisional seizing of land housing the former Unification Church's Japanese headquarters, a key step toward allowing former followers to reclaim large donations made to the religious group.

A legal team that supports victims of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification's fund-raising tactics announced the development at a news conference on July 30.

The Tokyo District Court issued the ruling on July 18 in response to a request by 10 women in their 50s to 80s who are former members of the religious organization.

The women claim to have collectively lost 227 million yen ($1.52 million) to the former Unification Church, through what they describe as exploitative donation extraction practices.

The court order prevents the organization from selling its property in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, effectively freezing the asset while legal proceedings are ongoing.

However, activities at the headquarters may continue as usual."

Obituary: Gabriel of Urantia: 1946-2025, Death of the Cosmic Gatsby

"Many words have been used to describe Gabriel of Urantia over the years — preacher, prophet, father, grifter, cult leader, con artist, "CosmoPop." On Friday, August 8th at 2:10 a.m., Gabriel of Urantia passed away at the age of 79. He was not doing well — there were difficulties related to diabetes and a 2010 kidney transplant, so in some ways this wasn't a shock. Then again, he was a cult leader, and cult leaders don't necessarily make it easy to know what's going on with them health-wise, so we were all taken a little off-guard."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/30/2025 (Aum Shinrikyo, Japan, Aleph, Podcast, Geelong Revival Centre, Australia)

Aum Shinrikyo, Japan,  Aleph, Podcast,  Geelong Revival Centre, Australia

The Asahi Shimbun: Son of executed Aum founder acknowledged as new cult leader Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult

"The second son of executed Aum Shinrikyo leader Chizuo Matsumoto has emerged as the "second-generation guru" and de facto leader of the doomsday cult's successor group, Aleph, according to the Public Security Intelligence Agency.

The confirmation by the PSIA underscores the government's continued scrutiny of individuals linked to Matsumoto, who also went by the name of Shoko Asahara.

Matsumoto was executed in 2018. He masterminded the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 14 people and sickened thousands.

The agency announced on July 22 that his second son has been steering Aleph's operations for nearly a decade.

It also determined that Matsumoto's widow plays a key supporting role in aiding her son's leadership."

History: America's Book of Secrets: What Draws People Into A Cult?

"What draws people into a cult and why can't they leave? Explore the psychology, power, and danger of cults, including a survivor's account of Jonestown and the government's response or lack of it. See more in Season 2, Episode 6, 'Deadly Cults.'"

The Canberra Times: 'You could hit kids': ex-members in 'cult' abuse claims

"Former members of a fundamentalist church have lifted the lid on abuse of kids and slammed working with children checks as a sham.

Ryan Carey was born into the Geelong Revival Centre, a Pentecostal doomsday church run by pastor Noel Hollins for more than six decades until his death in April 2024.

Mr Carey, whose father was second-in-command to Hollins, said the damage from his and others' time in the church lingers.

"I might have lived in the state of Victoria but I answered to the cult and the cult leader," he told a state parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday.

The inquiry into recruitment and retention methods of cults and organised fringe groups was green lit in April following claims of coercive practices within the church.

Mr Carey and his wife Catherine, who joined the church at age 19, were the first witnesses to give evidence at the public hearing.

He left the group in 2020, with Ms Carey following 18 months later with their two children.

The pair have since formed Stop Religious Coercion Australia and are pushing for more regulation and oversight of such groups.

"They use friends, family and fear to control their members," Mr Carey said.

The environments were the "most unsafe" for children, he added, pointing to the highly publicised case of a revival member being convicted of child sex abuse."

Son of executed Aum founder acknowledged as new cult leader

The Asahi Shimbun

July 23, 2025

The second son of executed Aum Shinrikyo leader Chizuo Matsumoto has emerged as the “second-generation guru” and de facto leader of the doomsday cult’s successor group, Aleph, according to the Public Security Intelligence Agency.

The confirmation by the PSIA underscores the government’s continued scrutiny of individuals linked to Matsumoto, who also went by the name of Shoko Asahara.

Matsumoto was executed in 2018. He masterminded the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 14 people and sickened thousands.

The agency announced on July 22 that his second son has been steering Aleph’s operations for nearly a decade.

It also determined that Matsumoto’s widow plays a key supporting role in aiding her son’s leadership.

Additionally, the agency has submitted a request to a Justice Ministry commission to extend an order that restricts Aleph’s activities, including the use of its facilities and acceptance of donations.

It marks the sixth consecutive request in this regard. The current order, for six months, is set to expire on Sept. 20.

And in an unprecedented move, the agency sought to prohibit Aleph from acquiring or leasing new facilities in 12 prefectures, including Hokkaido, Saitama and Chiba.

As of April 2025, the group operated around 20 facilities nationwide and had an estimated 1,190 followers, according to the PSIA.

In its latest request, the agency for the first time listed the son, along with another individual, as leaders of Aleph.

The announcement comes on the heels of the discovery in April of tens of millions of yen in cash hidden in an apartment in Saitama Prefecture where Matsumoto’s widow and second son lived.

The series of crackdown efforts is being carried out under legislation targeting organizations responsible for indiscriminate mass murder, a law intended to keep Aum Shinrikyo’s successors under surveillance.

NAMED HEIR

According to the PSIA, Matsumoto’s son got involved in Aleph’s decision-making and began performing its religious rituals around 2014. It said he has referred to himself as a guru since at least 2017.

This aligns with the founder’s wishes; Matsumoto designated his son as his successor after his arrest in 1995.

Last fall, voice recordings surfaced on social media in which the son declared himself a new guru. Authorities later confirmed they were authentic.

This, along with other evidence, led officials to determine that the son is the de facto leader of Aleph.

The PSIA acknowledged that it had not been able to fully uncover Aleph’s internal workings until recently, attributing the delay to the group’s “extremely secretive and deceptive nature.”

The son’s rise to leadership follows internal divisions within Aleph.

Around 2013, Matsumoto’s wife and her supporters attempted to install the son as the group’s leader.

This move was strongly opposed by Matsumoto’s third daughter, resulting in a splinter faction known as the Yamada group, which began operating independently in 2015.

Even after his death, Matsumoto’s influence continues to haunt Japan through Aleph and other affiliated remnants of the doomsday cult.

https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/15922824

A court orders the Unification Church in Japan dissolved

MARI YAMAGUCHI

AP

March 25, 2025

"The Unification Church in Japan was ordered dissolved by a court Tuesday after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The church said it was considering an immediate appeal of the Tokyo District Court’s revocation of its legal status, which would take away its tax-exempt privilege and require liquidation of its assets.

The order followed a request by Japan’s Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.

In the ruling, the court said the church’s problems were extensive and continuous, and a dissolution order is necessary because it is not likely it could voluntarily reform, according to NHK television.

"“We believe our claims were accepted,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshiasa Hayashi told reporters. He added that government will continue efforts to support victims of the church.

The Japanese branch of the church had criticized the request as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers.

The church called the court order regrettable and unjust and said in a statement the court’s decision was based on “a wrong legal interpretation and absolutely unacceptable.”

The investigation into Abe’s assassination revealed decades of cozy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. The church obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in the 1960s during an anti-communist movement supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.

The man accused of killing Abe resented the church and blamed it for his family’s financial troubles.

The church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is the first religious group subject to a revocation order based on violations of Japan’s civil code. Two earlier case involved criminal charges — the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.

To seek the church’s dissolution, the Education Ministry had submitted 5,000 documents and pieces of evidence to the court, based on interviews with more than 170 people.

The church tried to steer its followers’ decision-making, using manipulative tactics, making them buy expensive goods and donate beyond their financial ability and causing fear and harm to them and their families, seriously deviating from the law on religious groups, officials and experts say.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs said the settlements reached in or outside court exceeded 20 billion yen ($132 million) and involved more than 1,500 people.

A group of lawyers who have represented people suing the church welcomed the court decision as a major first step toward redress. They demanded an apology and compensation from the church as soon as possible.

The church, founded in Seoul in 1954, a year after the end of the Korean War, by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who preached new interpretations of the Bible and conservative, family-oriented value systems.

It developed relations with conservative world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as his predecessors Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

The church faced accusations in the 1970s and 1980s of using devious recruitment tactics and brainwashing adherents into turning over huge portions of their salaries to Moon. In Japan, the group has faced lawsuits for offering “spiritual merchandise” that allegedly caused members to buy expensive art and jewelry or sell their real estate to raise donations for the church.

The church has acknowledged excessive donations but says the problem has lessened since the group stepped up compliance in 2009.

Experts say Japanese followers are asked to pay for sins committed by their ancestors during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, and that the majority of the church’s worldwide funding comes from Japan.

https://apnews.com/article/japan-unification-church-dissolution-d5e1fdf3cb671d6ffeb45d75620ef8b2

Aleph, Aum Supreme Truth Cult’s Successor, Fails to Report ¥700 Million; Group Apparently Sought to Hide Assets

A government building that houses the Public Security Intelligence Agency is seen in Tokyo.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

March 9, 2025

Aum Supreme Truth’s main successor transferred financial assets in an apparent attempt to conceal them, according to a Public Security Intelligence Agency investigation report seen by The Yomiuri Shimbun.

The cult’s successor, which is called Aleph, used such means as extending loans to corporate entities represented or managed by people linked to the group, including its followers.

The agency has estimated that about ¥700 million in assets belonging to Aleph-linked corporations has not been reported to the government. It is believed Aleph had been attempting to prevent the assets from being seized for victims of Aum-related incidents who have demanded compensation.

The report was compiled by the agency in January 2023 based on the results of on-site inspections of Aleph facilities and other probes. It was submitted as evidence in a trial for a lawsuit filed by Aleph against the central government. A ruling in the trial was handed down in December last year. The Yomiuri Shimbun has confirmed the contents of the report.

According to the report, there are at least eight Aleph-linked corporate entities, with its followers being representatives, executives or investors. The head offices of these entities are all located at the same addresses as Aleph’s hub facilities. Aleph extended about ¥220 million in loans to some of the entities, transferred its right to receive repayments to other affiliated bodies and paid high fees for using facilities in order to transfer its assets.

The agency’s analysis suggests that Aleph’s actions were in response to a 2019 court ruling that ordered the group to pay more than ¥1 billion in compensation to victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, and other Aum-linked incidents. The agency believes that Aleph hid its assets because they could be seized based on the ruling.

According to the agency, Aleph’s assets, which the group is required to report to the government under the Subversive Organizations Control Law, fell sharply from about ¥1.286 billion in February 2019 to about ¥8 million in February 2024. On the other hand, the agency estimates that assets of Aleph-linked corporate entities, including for-profit businesses, rose from about ¥460 million in February 2020 to at least ¥700 million in February 2024.

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20250309-242449/

Ex-NPA official regrets allowing Aum cult to ‘go on the offensive’

SHIMPACHI YOSHIDA

Asahi

February 3, 2025

A bureau chief who oversaw police investigations into Aum Shinrikyo said he feels responsible for the “indecision” on a crackdown that allowed the cult to commit its deadly gas attack in Tokyo in 1995.

According to Takashi Kakimi, who was at the time director-general of the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the National Police Agency, police were planning to search Aum Shinrikyo facilities in Tokyo and the village of Kamikuisshiki in Yamanashi Prefecture as early as March 22, 1995.

But on the morning of March 20 that year, Aum Shinrikyo members released sarin nerve gas on five trains on the Hibiya, Marunouchi and Chiyoda subway lines.

Fourteen people died and more than 6,000 were injured.

“Looking back, we could have chosen to carry out a search before completing investigations because there were suspicions that sarin existed (at Aum facilities),” Kakimi, 82, said in an interview with scholars, a journalist and an Asahi Shimbun reporter.

“Given the number of casualties, I still wonder if we could not have decided sooner on the search. I feel responsible for our indecision,” he said.

It is the first time that Kakimi discussed details of the overall investigations. He had remained almost silent on the issue after retiring from the NPA in August 1996.

Kakimi agreed to a series of interviews from May last year in response to a proposal from a legal scholar, his friend. Kakimi explained that he thought he is responsible for recording the police decisions for posterity.

Aum Shinrikyo clearly emerged on the radar of the Criminal Affairs Bureau after eight people were killed and more than 600 were injured in a sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, on June 27, 1994.

The NPA’s National Research Institute of Police Science reported on Nov. 16, 1994, that a breakdown product of sarin was discovered from soil around a cult facility in Kamikuisshiki.

Nine days later, the Criminal Affairs Bureau laid out a basic plan to search Aum Shinrikyo facilities.

Under the plan, police would initiate a search within two to three months over the confinement of a former nurse in Yamanashi Prefecture and later open a wider search over the confinement of an inn operator in Miyazaki Prefecture.

A total of 600 investigators would be deployed.

A meeting to discuss whether to implement the basic plan was held on Dec. 15, attended by Kakimi, NPA Commissioner-General Takaji Kunimatsu, as well as the director-general of the NPA’s Security Bureau and the chief of the First Investigation Division.

After one hour of discussions, the participants concluded that a search was premature because details had yet to be fully understood.

On Feb. 24, 1995, the Criminal Affairs Bureau decided to carry out the basic plan in early March with about 3,000 investigators.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department later joined the investigations after an employee of a notary office in the capital was abducted by Aum Shinrikyo members on Feb. 28.

At a meeting on March 17, the NPA and the MPD effectively decided to carry out the search on March 22.

While the MPD sought an early search of facilities in Tokyo, the NPA called for a simultaneous search including facilities in Kamikuisshiki, according to Kakimi.

Senior NPA and MPD investigators met again on March 19, but they failed to determine the date due to disagreements over search arrangements.

Kakimi said he planned to finalize the date and arrangements on March 20 after reporting the issue to Kunimatsu.

During rush hour on that morning, Aum Shinrikyo members, using sharpened umbrella points, punctured plastic bags filled with sarin on the Tokyo subway system.

Two days later, police searched cult facilities in Tokyo and Yamanashi Prefecture, among others.

Kakimi said the NPA failed to carry out a search before March 20 because sufficient evidence was not available to arrest suspects in the confinement cases in Yamanashi and Miyazaki prefectures.

The MPD, which could mobilize personnel and equipment required for a large-scale search, also did not join the investigations until a later stage.

“We allowed (Aum Shinrikyo) to go on the offensive,” Kakimi said. “I felt that we should have initiated a search early.”

https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/15610830

Man reveals pain, shame of growing up as Unification Church 'blessed 2nd gen.' in Japan

The Mainichi

September 26, 2024

TOKYO -- Garbage piled 

up in his family's home. He had to miss long stretches of school to take part in "study sessions." These were just two aspects of being a "blessed second-generation" member of the Unification Church (now the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), according to a man in his 30s who publicly shared his experiences for the first time on Sept. 21 at an event in the Japanese capital.

The man, going by the pseudonym Yukihiko Nonami, was born to parents who met through one of the church's mass weddings, and were devout followers.

Due to his parents' deep faith, they prioritized church doctrines over their children's welfare. However, Nonami himself never practiced the faith. "I was always ashamed and resentful of my family and the church. Because of them, I hated the fact that I existed," he shared.

From a young age, he was made to bow down in front of photographs of the church's founder and his wife. He was also forced to attend Sunday worship and take part in long-term study sessions, known as "workshops," held in places including South Korea, Brazil and Japan. These sessions were so long that he had to miss school. He was also forbidden from developing romantic feelings for anyone.

"I had only the bare minimum food, clothing and shelter. The house was a mess, and sometimes the school had to call my parents because they didn't pay for my school meals," Nonami recalled.

By the time he was in upper elementary school, he began to see the Unification Church as a cult. At the same time, he struggled with the stigma of being associated with it.

Despite not being a believer himself, Nonami explained, "It doesn't change that I was born because of the church's teachings. I was ashamed of it and hated it, which led to self-loathing. I believe this is a problem unique to those born into believer families as 'blessed second-generation' children."

Due to his feelings of guilt and shame about his family, Nonami couldn't fit in with those around him. He dropped out of high school just a few months after enrolling. He admitted that at one point, he thought the quickest way to reject the church's teachings was to erase himself, leading him to engage in self-harm.

Nonami said he was finally able to speak publicly about his experience because, in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the issue of "second-generation religious followers" has been gaining attention, allowing him to open up about his upbringing and struggles.

The Sept. 21 event where Nonami spoke was organized by the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, which advocates for victims of the church. The network released a statement calling for a review of Japan's law against malicious donation solicitation, which was enacted in 2022 to prevent excessive donation-related harm.

The group also called for schools to establish support systems and consultation desks for second-generation religious followers, as well as for legal support when seeking compensation from the church.

(Japanese original by Shota Harumashi, Tokyo City News Department)

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240924/p2a/00m/0na/022000c?fbclid=IwY2xjawFh1LxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTiLiuu4RCC7aN_0jzNyveY6qds1R57MHQxX7IMV7lIu9gCoZ9Na9ZsdkQ_aem_c1A6ffzZunnH_AxZupoOSg