Toyo Keizai Inc. "Weekly Toyo Keizai" (October 8 issue) Our Group's Opinion on Related Articles

The article related to our group, "Media Intimidated by the Sect's Protests," published in the October 8 issue of "Weekly Toyo Keizai" in the feature "Religion, Money, and Politics," is based on false claims and completely lacks neutrality and fairness. Therefore, we present our group's opinion as follows.

On September 22, Mr. Daiki Nonaka, a reporter from "Weekly Toyo Keizai," inquired with our group about a manga by cartoonist Mariko Kikuchi depicting a female graduate of the Happy Science Academy, and we responded to him on September 26. The next day, in a letter addressed to Editor-in-Chief Naoki Kazama of "Weekly Toyo Keizai," our group conveyed that there had been no inquiries from Mariko Kikuchi regarding fact-checking for the manga, and that the manga contained numerous inaccuracies and was unbalanced and one-sided. However, the editorial department of "Weekly Toyo Keizai" ignored these warnings and wrote the article centered on the false claim by writer Zenro Fujikura that "the main parts (of the manga) are all based on facts."

In our group's response, we pointed out clear factual errors in the manga, such as the claim "if caught dating, they are locked in a small room with a key," when in reality, dating is not prohibited, and no one is locked in a room with a key. We also noted that the offering guideline of around 3 million yen for the altar depicted in the manga is incorrect. The part about "a house like a castle" is actually a religious facility for communicating with the spiritual heavenly realm, supported by many clergy performing sacred duties. Furthermore, the manga's claim that "they were made unable to do anything" and "told to work for the sect after graduating from university" is false, as over a thousand graduates, some of whom are sect employees, have found employment in various fields, and there is no restriction on freedom of education or career choice.

Additionally, we pointed out that the manga author Mariko Kikuchi is a former second-generation member of Soka Gakkai, and her work reflects a strong "anti-other-religions" ideology seen in some Nichiren sects. We also noted that the protagonist's enrollment in the academy's high school was of their own volition, actively participating in club activities during their time there, and later attending a regular university. Ten years after graduation, the protagonist has cut off contact with concerned family, teachers, and friends, seemingly influenced by Hiroshi, whose numerous falsehoods have been recognized in court. If only a small portion of our group's points are quoted, it would result in an unbalanced and one-sided portrayal, which we are very concerned about.

However, the editorial department ignored our group's points and concerns, structuring the article around the false claim that "the main parts are all based on facts."

The article quotes Kikuchi's tweet, "If bound by creating works that don't hurt, fairness, neutrality, and including both sides, the second-generation issue won't even be brought to the table," which is an irresponsible statement admitting the low truthfulness of her manga. Clearly, as the article deals with our group, it does not mean it's acceptable to harm the "precious faith" of many believers.

Furthermore, the article is written by freelance writer Zenro Fujikura, who has been prosecuted for trespassing on our group's facilities and received a guilty ruling (a fine of 100,000 yen, with a two-year suspended sentence) at the Tokyo District Court, and continues to be a defendant in criminal proceedings. Our group had previously pointed out that it is impossible to expect fair commentary on our group, the "victim," from someone in the position of a "perpetrator." The decision by Editor-in-Chief Kazama and Reporter Nonaka to employ Mr. Fujikura is a renunciation of a fair and neutral reporting stance. Despite our group's offer to explain in person to Reporter Nonaka, he deemed it unnecessary, but handling sensitive matters of religion and faith without meeting the subjects of the report is problematic as a reporting stance.

Additionally, as a note of caution in our response, we stated, "President Okawa is the principal object of worship of our group. Please refrain from publishing his image without permission," yet it was published, which harms the precious faith.

We hope that "Weekly Toyo Keizai" will respect precious faith and religion and conduct reporting based on truth so that such incidents do not occur again.