Ryuho Okawa, Founder and President of Happy Science, passed away. Inside photo of the “flamboyant birth ceremony” held at Tokyo Dome.

Multicolored laser beams flashed by, and the dome’s ceiling was filled with stars. The front stage was enveloped in smoke, and figures emerged from the blue lighting. A man was slowly descending a white staircase. It was Ryuho Okawa, 35, the founder of Happy Science. This is a scene from Okawa’s “birthday celebration” held at Tokyo Dome in July 1991. At the time, “FRIDAY” reported on this birthday festival with photos of the flashy stage.

On March 2, it was reported that Ryuho Okawa had passed away. He was 66 years old.

Around March 1, information began to circulate that ‘Mr. Ryuho Okawa passed away. The cause of death was said to be a cerebral infarction,’ and ‘the location seems to be his home,'” said a reporter for a national newspaper.

According to FNN Prime Online and other sources, Okawa collapsed at his home in Minato Ward on February 28 and was taken to the hospital, but was confirmed dead on the morning of March 2.

Okawa was born in Tokushima Prefecture in 1956. After graduating from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law, he worked for a major trading company before founding Happy Science in 1986. The name Okawa and Happy Science became widely known at the “Birthday Festival” in 1991, as mentioned at the beginning of this article.

The Tokyo Dome Birthday Festival, held on July 15, 1991, attracted approximately 50,000 visitors. Following the march, the actress who served as emcee announced one after another the number of members gained by the chapters nationwide. Finally, “1,527,278 in total!” was announced, a storm of enthusiastic banzai erupted (see photo below).

Mr. Okawa then appeared on stage and made the following exultant declaration

I, myself, would have declared the victory of achieving 77,000 members one year ago, and also thought to gather 777,777 angels of light one year later today. Behold the numbers now represented before you! Next July, I would like to have 10,000,000 members. In my mind it has already been realized. I was born 2600 years ago as Buddha, 4300 years ago as Hermes, and now Ryuho Okawa has appeared as the soul of Buddha, El Cantare!

According to the organization’s website, “El Cantare” is “the supreme deity of the earth, the ‘Lord of the Gods’ who sent Jesus Christ, Confucius, Socrates, Muhammad, and others to the earth,” and “El Cantare is now preaching the universal teachings of humanity that resolve ethnic and religious conflicts and unite the earth. He is born in Japan as President Ryuho Okawa, to resolve conflicts and disputes among peoples and religions, and to unite the earth.

The 1991 birthday celebration was the first time Okawa declared himself “El Cantare” in an official setting. More than 30 years have passed since his birth.

The number of members of Happy Science was once estimated at 11 million, but this figure was based only on the number of copies of the scriptures given to believers. In reality, experts estimate that the maximum number of members is about 1 million. There is no doubt that the loss of the founder, Mr. Okawa, will change the organization of Happy Science drastically. The ‘second generation religious problem’ that is currently raging is no stranger to the organization.

Happy Science is now at a major crossroads.