A doctor and guru who anointed a shrine with oil 11 years ago said before his arrest: “Shrines are havens for evil spirits.”

The shrine is a den of evil spirits.

We poured oil on it and purified it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is what the man had said at a meeting of a religious organization he founded.

On March 5, a large number of TV, newspaper, and magazine reporters gathered in front of the Chiba Prefectural Police Narita Station. A little after 8:20 a.m., the man appeared from the transport entrance, straightened his back, walked with firm steps, and got into the transport vehicle without seeing the press, including the photographers of this magazine.

The man arrested on March 4 is Masahide Kanayama, 63, a resident of the United States with an unknown occupation. He was arrested on suspicion of vandalism to buildings at Katori Jingu Shrine in Chiba Prefecture 11 years ago in March 2003, when he poured oil-like substance on more than a dozen places, including the Sakura-mon Gate, an important tangible cultural property of Japan. At that time, similar incidents had occurred in 48 locations in 16 prefectures, including Naritasan Shinshoji Temple (Narita City, Nara Prefecture), Nijo Castle (Kyoto City), and Todaiji Temple (Nara City), and the prefectural police were investigating the possibility of the same crime.

Subsequently, the Chiba Prefectural Police identified the Katori Jingu incident as the work of Kanayama based on security camera footage. An arrest warrant was obtained, but since the suspect had traveled to the U.S. after the incident, extradition to the U.S. was requested from the local authorities. During this time, Kanayama had been practicing medicine and leading a normal life in the U.S., but he was finally handed over to the Japanese police in accordance with the Japan-U.S. Extradition Treaty.

After moving to the U.S., Kanayama ran an endometriosis clinic in New York. He had a good reputation as a doctor in his hometown. On the other hand, he established a Christian residential group, “IMM (International Marketplace Ministry),” in May ’13. In past meetings of the organization for believers,

‘It is not a place of purity. A shrine is a den of evil spirits.

He then admitted that he had anointed himself with oil, as shown in the video recording of the incident.

Before his transfer to Japan, at JFK International Airport in the U.S., a Japanese reporter asked him, “Do you have anything you want to say to the media?” Kanayama, a former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and a criminal suspect, was asked by a Japanese reporter at JFK International Airport, “Do you have anything you want to say to the media? We interviewed Taihei Ogawa, a former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist.

After committing the crime, Kanayama went to the United States. Even though there is an extradition treaty between the U.S. and Japan, the U.S. was not willing to extradite him because he was not charged with a felony such as murder or nonconsensual sexual intercourse, and he did not satisfy the dual punishment requirement (editor’s note: the act to be extradited must be a crime in both countries under the treaty). The suspect was well aware of this and had also hired a competent lawyer. It must have taken them this long to get to this point because they were fighting in federal court to block extradition.”

What will happen next in the trial?

I think he will be charged with destruction of a building, but I don’t think it will be a very serious crime. What remains to be seen is whether the shrine will file a civil claim for damages. The damage is to a nationally renowned cultural asset, and it is likely to involve dozens of locations. I think it would be better to file a solid damage claim to prevent copycats in the future.

The suspect has admitted to the charges, saying, “I have no objection,” but we wonder what the shrines and temples affected by the damage will decide. We will keep an eye on the progress of the case.