[Happy Science Maintains Complete Victory in High Court] Regarding the High Court Ruling on the Gentosha Book (Authored by Hiroshi O)

Our organization filed a defamation lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against Gentosha Inc. (President Toru Kenjo) and the author Hiroshi O, seeking damages, as our honor was damaged by the Gentosha book (authored by Hiroshi O) and Mr. Hiroshi's statements on YouTube (filed on October 4, 2023).

On August 9, 2024, the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of our organization, ordering Gentosha and Mr. Hiroshi to pay a total of 1.65 million yen in damages to our organization (1.1 million yen jointly by Gentosha and Mr. Hiroshi, and 550,000 yen by Mr. Hiroshi alone) and to delete the YouTube videos. Following this district court ruling, Gentosha and Mr. Hiroshi appealed, prompting our organization to file a cross-appeal seeking an increase in damages.

On January 15, 2025, the Tokyo High Court dismissed both the appeal by Gentosha and Mr. Hiroshi and our organization's cross-appeal in the appellate ruling. As a result, the first-instance ruling of complete victory for our organization at the Tokyo District Court was upheld.

In the district court ruling, multiple false statements by Mr. Hiroshi in the book and on YouTube were recognized as lowering the social evaluation of our organization, and regarding the disputed points of truthfulness, it was acknowledged that they were not true and there was no reasonable basis to believe them to be true. This recognition was also upheld in the appellate ruling by the high court.

Furthermore, prior to the publication of the book, our organization had warned Gentosha that ① many falsehoods in Mr. Hiroshi's statements had been repeatedly revealed through multiple lawsuits with our group, and ② appropriate background research and content verification were necessary when publishing the book. Nevertheless, Gentosha ignored this and published the book without conducting any background research on our organization, which is an act contrary to the ethics of a publisher. This resulted in the defeat of Gentosha and Mr. Hiroshi in the high court following the district court.

We strongly urge Gentosha and Mr. Hiroshi to sincerely accept the defeat in the appellate ruling, deeply reflect, and refrain from desecrating faith, making false statements, or slandering again.

Public Relations Office of the Happy Science Group