<figure id="attachment_290617" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290617" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8e060453"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/564A6304.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-290617" class="wp-caption-text">Defendant Tetsuya Yamagami was indicted on January 13. The trial is expected to reveal how he came to hold a grudge against the cult.</figcaption></figure>
 The year 2023 marks exactly 400 years since 1623, when religious persecution against Christianity is said to have begun in Japan. We must be prepared to take on the challenge as if it were 2023, the year that marks the climax of the religious persecution. As long as we remain unwavering, Satan&#8217;s side will surely crumble.&#8221;
 On January 11 of this year, Tomihiro Tanaka, 66, president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (hereafter referred to as &#8220;the former Unification Church&#8221;), attended online a meeting for young believers in the first region of the church (Kanto) called the &#8220;Seiwa Zone Evangelism Starting Ceremony. He waved to the believers and said, &#8220;Can you hear me? he said after waving his hand and calling out to his followers.
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 In such statements as &#8220;the height of religious persecution&#8221; and &#8220;Satan&#8217;s side is collapsing,&#8221; it is clear that the church is the victim.
 With the right to ask questions being exercised and a request for a dissolution order now inevitable, the issue of malicious donations will once again be in the spotlight following the indictment of Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, on January 13 for murder and violation of the Firearms Control Law. Nevertheless, why is there still no reflection on the part of the cult? Journalist Aito Suzuki, who has been pursuing the cult for many years, explains.
 The Korean headquarters must have instructed them to take a strong stance. Korean executives in Japan have reportedly told President Han Hak-chul-so that even if an order to dissolve the organization is requested, it will take five to six years before a ruling is actually issued, and that even if the organization is dissolved, it will no longer be a religious corporation and can continue collecting donations and carrying out evangelistic activities by paying taxes just like an ordinary corporation.
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<h2> The press conference is an appeal to the public</h2>
 The aforementioned &#8220;departure ceremony&#8221; also revealed the reality of evangelism (recruitment) in the first district. In December of last year, the number of recruits was said to have reached the same level as before the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mr. Eight continued, &#8220;In other words, they are still recruiting as they were before the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
 In other words, they are still recruiting as they did before the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The same is true of the donations. In many cases, the church has been asked to return many of the donations, but they have not done so, saying that the believers themselves do not want the money back. In many cases, the Church has not responded to a request from Yamagami&#8217;s uncle. 

 Since the incident, Hideyuki Teshigawara, the head of the reform headquarters, has held numerous press conferences and appealed for reform. However, we cannot help but think that this was only a formality, an appeal to the public.
 It is an indisputable fact that the Sect has repeatedly made statements &#8220;aimed at the public&#8221; at its press conferences. This magazine has obtained audio recordings of several internal meetings and gatherings of the organization and has reported on their contents in detail.
 For example, in the &#8220;Internet Conference for Believers&#8221; held on August 19 of last year, Chairman Tanaka said
 My parents&#8217; house is full of psychic products.
 My parents&#8217; house is full of psychic products. In his most recent press conference, he stated.
 &#8220;We have not been and are not currently engaged in psychic sales.
 In addition, 100 days after the incident, last year, Chairman Tanaka said, &#8220;I am not a psychic salesman.
 On October 16, 2011, 100 days after the incident, when Mr. Tanaka appeared at a church in the suburbs of Tokyo, he said the following.
 Please draw a firm blueprint of when your family will produce &#8216;Tempo&#8217; and move forward step by step toward that blueprint. Only a family that faces its family with its life and risks its life to establish a tradition of love will be able to move toward the &#8220;victory of the heavenly treasure. I ask you to take on this challenge with all your heart.&#8221;
 The title of &#8220;Cheonbao&#8221; is given to those who have achieved both the &#8220;430 Family Blessing&#8221; and the &#8220;430 Generations of Ancestral Unity. Since the &#8220;blessing&#8221; refers to solicitation and the &#8220;Ancestral Rejoicing&#8221; requires a large amount of donations to be made, the &#8220;Blessing&#8221; is seen as a statement that, in effect, encourages solicitation and donations.
 An active believer laments.
 An active believer lamented, &#8220;Because I believe in the teachings of the Church, I want to continue our activities after being recognized by the government as a legitimate organization. That is why I would like the organization to reform itself as a Japanese religious corporation, rather than following the dictates of the Korean headquarters. There are many believers who feel this way.
 What do the upper echelons of the organization think of the believers&#8217; concern about &#8220;reform for form&#8217;s sake?
<figure id="attachment_290618" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290618" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="af98c3ab"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/80de5ca1d286ef980325222a1de9f937.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-290618" class="wp-caption-text"> On January 11, the &#8220;Seiwa Sphere Mission Departure Ceremony&#8221; was held online. Chairman Tanaka waves to the believers. He also spoke of his own age and the need for a generational shift.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_290619" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290619" style="width: 1245px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9d9d7fa7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/aad2468e100207402d9c1dfba9c82b88.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-290619" class="wp-caption-text"> Although President Tanaka is a talkative man at press conferences and meetings for believers, he did not answer any questions when this magazine directly interviewed him at the end of last year.</figcaption></figure>
 From the February 3, 2023 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY

 Kei Kato, courtesy of Eight Suzuki, Takeo Yuzoku

 There are whispers that the "old Unification Church" will be ordered to disband. The church has held numerous press conferences, appealing for reform, but these are nothing more than "appeals to the public. This magazine has obtained numerous statements made to the public. What in the world are they talking about?

The former Unification Church is completely unmoved by the dissolution order… The present state of “reform in form only

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