It was around November 2017 that the United States, and the U.S. military moved into the Indo-Pacific in a big way. I received inquiries from various U.S. government organizations. The reason why is because in April and May 2017, I was invited by two parliamentary groups chaired by Member of Parliament Keiji Furuya to talk about the Indo-Pacific and maritime security, and I also published a paper in the East-West Center. I have been working with the U.S. government all along to create a path for Defense Minister Esper to visit Palau.
One of the many tasks was to inquire about a Japanese company in Palau. It is a tourism company called Impac. It was established in 1993, before Palau gained independence. The president at that time was Mr. Kijuro Sugawara, a member of the House of Representatives from Iwate Prefecture. The company also has a branch office in Korea, and its Japanese affiliate is Isaiah, the biblical Isaiah. I wondered if it might be Moon, but it turns out that Kijuro Sugawara is a member of the Unification Church.
The murder of Prime Minister Abe has raised the issue of the relationship between Diet members and the Unification Church. They have been attending lectures, sending congratulatory speeches, and some have even become supporting members of the church in order to gain votes. Among them, as noted in the article below, Sugawara not only became co-chairman of the 2000 International Interreligious Federation for World Peace, but also became a member of the Unification Church. In June 2001, he asked a question in the Diet condemning parents who tried to save their children from the Unification Church. In other words, he took the position of fully defending the Unification Church. He condemned the "act of confinement" in which parents of Unification Church members lock thier children in a room in an attempt to get their children to leave the church.
The question is copied below. The answer came from Prime Minister Koizumi, who said that there is no such thing as "confinement therapy.
Now, I don't want to write why the U.S. government was interested in this company IMPAC, but it may have something to do with the fact that it is an anti-social organization such as a psychic business. In fact, I am working with IMPAC in Palau. The Judo Kids Sushi for Ganbatte Party that you all helped me with the other day was provided by ToriTori, an affiliate of IMPAC. Although I found out later that...
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Question Text Information
Submitted on June 19, 2001
Question No. 104
Written Questions Concerning Comments Made by a Clinical Psychologist at the Tachikawa Juvenile Center of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
Submitted by Kijuro Sugawara
Written Question Concerning Statements Made by a Clinical Psychologist at the Tachikawa Juvenile Center of the Metropolitan Police Department
On September 9, 1999, the U.S. Department of State released the "International Religious Freedom Report for 1999," in which it stated that the police had received a letter from a follower of the World Christian Association for the Unification of Religions (hereinafter referred to as the "Unification Church"), a religious corporation. Since then, this issue has been repeatedly addressed in the annual International Religious Freedom Report and the International Human Rights Report. Meanwhile, on April 20, 2000, then House of Representatives Member Hitoshi Hinokida asked a question on this issue at the House of Representatives' Committee on Monitoring the Settlement of Accounts, at which time National Police Agency Commissioner Setsuo Tanaka stated, "Police personnel protect the Constitution and laws of Japan and perform their duties in an unbiased, impartial, and fair manner. I am aware that several prefectural police departments across Japan have received reports and inquiries from Unification Church followers, but as a police force charged with protecting the lives, bodies, and property of citizens, we will continue to take strict action in light of the law and evidence against any acts that violate penal laws. However, as a police force charged with the protection of people's lives, bodies, and property, we will continue to take strict action in light of the law and evidence if there is any violation of penal laws.
However, it has now come to light that Metropolitan Police Department officials were deeply involved in the forced conversion of Unification Church believers, and that the Metropolitan Police Department has accepted this as part of the police's duties. On January 27, 2012, the Tokyo Youth Association and the Tokyo Youth Hostel Association co-hosted the "SPICE: Bridge to Peace for the 21st Century" at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. Mr. Takashi Takee, a clinical psychologist at the Tachikawa Juvenile Center of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, was a panelist at the international symposium titled "SPICE: A Bridge to Peace in the 21st Century," co-hosted by the Tokyo Youth Association and the Tokyo Hostel Association. He made the following statement during his lecture.
I wonder if there are people who still hear the words "Video Center," "Three Degrees Training," and "Seven Degrees Training" today. These are churches that perform "mass wedding ceremonies. They are conducting brainwashing education through the video center. However, when we are in contact with the cult members, we have to start with "confinement therapy" to separate them from the cult. Therefore, it is very difficult to improve and pull them back, and I have only had one successful case.
In this case, the father quit his job, rented a hotel room, and locked himself and his daughter in the hotel room to loosen their brainwashing. When the brainwashing was loosened, he re-brainwashed her with another orthodox Christian doctrine and rescued her.
So we would recommend to the parents, "Put a chain around them, lock them up, and lock them up," but the mother would usually say, "I feel sorry for them," and sometimes she would unlock the door. The first time they run away, we can bring them back to the first place, but the second time they run away, they go to a different place, and this is our experience.
The Unification Church, which is clearly identified in the context as a religious organization that performs "mass wedding ceremonies," sent a letter of inquiry to Superintendent Ken Noda dated April 12, 2001, upon obtaining the contents of Mr. Takee's statement. The police sent a letter of inquiry dated April 12, 2001 to Ken Noda, the Superintendent General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, pointing out that his teaching of "confinement therapy" in his daily work and his teaching of "confinement therapy" to the audience at his lectures violated the Constitution and other laws. In response, the Metropolitan Police Department responded to the Unification Church in a letter dated May 18 of this year in the name of the Director of the Juvenile Development Division, Community Safety Department, Metropolitan Police Department, as follows.
The police are committed to upholding the Constitution of Japan and laws and regulations, and to performing their duties in an unbiased, impartial, and fair manner.
The Juvenile Police work for the prevention of juvenile delinquency and for the sound upbringing and welfare of juveniles.
The lecture was a part of the discussion on the necessity of parental care and deep affection for the upbringing of children, and the speaker introduced as a case study the experience of a parent who was troubled by his daughter's running away from home, for which he had previously received advice, with no intention of infringing on the honor and religious freedom of your association.
We would like you to understand that this is a suggestion about how parents and children should be in the home in these days when many families are troubled by problems with their children.
In its response, the Metropolitan Police Department not only admitted that the "confinement therapy" case that Mr. Takee introduced in his lecture actually existed, but also claimed that the "confinement therapy" instruction suggested "the way parents and children should be in the home" and accepted it as such.
We would like to address the following points.
(i) According to Mr. Takee's statement in his lecture, he has repeatedly instructed parents of believers in "confinement therapy," calling it "confinement therapy," to "re-brainwash" them with the doctrines of "another orthodox Christian group" after confining them in a hotel room in order to make them lose faith in a specific religious group, and has actually had one successful case of such therapy. Is the government aware of the fact that the Metropolitan Police Department staff is instructing parents on how to persuade their children to leave a specific religious group through "confinement therapy"?
(2) The "confinement therapy" instructed by Mr. Takee involves confining believers of a specific religious group in order to destroy their faith, and "brainwashing" them with a different religious doctrine that they do not wish to be exposed to. What is the government's judgment on this matter?
(iii) The Commissioner General of the National Police Agency states that the police "uphold the Constitution and laws of Japan and perform their duties in an unbiased, impartial, and fair manner," but on the other hand, the Metropolitan Police Department, which is under his command and supervision, acknowledges the fact that the "confinement therapy" case that Takee introduced in his speech actually exists. The Metropolitan Police Department considers the guidance on "confinement therapy" given by its employees to parents of believers of a specific religious group and the guidance given at lectures and other events as part of the police's activities in the performance of their duties, and is not a case where the Director-General of the National Police Agency says that This is a position far removed from the defense of the Constitution and laws of Japan, as well as from unbiasedness, impartiality, and neutrality as described by the Director General of the National Police Agency. What is the government's position on such contradictions within the police authorities?
In the "confinement therapy" in which Mr. Takee, an employee of the Metropolitan Police Department, recommends that parents of believers in a particular religious group "chain them up, lock them up, and confine them," a parent confines the child in a hotel room or the like. The parents confine their children to a hotel room or the like. Such acts of confinement clearly fall under the crime of confinement under Article 220 of the Penal Code. Does the government condone the fact that the Metropolitan Police Department officials, who are public servants, are instructing and abetting specific criminal acts to the public?
(v) Although the Commissioner of the National Police Agency has stated that he is not aware of any criminal acts in which the police were specifically involved, Mr. Takee, an employee of the Metropolitan Police Department under his command and supervision, has stated that he has instructed the parents of members of a specific religious group to commit confinement acts in his daily duties, and the Metropolitan Police Department has acknowledged this. The Metropolitan Police Department has also acknowledged this. What is the government's view on the problem of sloppy management and supervision of staff within the police authorities?
On August 31, 2000, the Tottori District Court ruled that the parents and pastor were liable for damages for their attempts to confine Unification Church members and force them to leave the church. The court found the pastor liable for damages. In light of the court's judgment, the "confinement therapy" that Mr. Takee instructs the parents of believers of a specific religious group is considered illegal (tort) even in a civil context.
The "confinement therapy" that Mr. Takee provides to the parents of believers of a specific religious group is a highly illegal act that violates the Constitution and other laws and regulations, and it is unacceptable that a police officer, who is responsible for protecting the safety of the people and defending human rights, would instruct the people on criminal acts. Is the government planning to conduct a thorough investigation into the facts of the "confinement therapy" instruction that Mr. Takee has provided, and to provide supervision and guidance to the relevant ministries and agencies, including consideration of strict disciplinary measures against Mr. Takee?
I ask the right question.
Main text of the answer
Received September 18, 2001
Answer No. 104
Cabinet Minute 151-101 No.104
September 18, 2001
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
To Tamisuke Watanuki, Speaker of the House of Representatives
In response to the question submitted by Mr. Kijuro Sugawara, a member of the House of Representatives, concerning comments made by a clinical psychologist at the Tachikawa Juvenile Center of the Metropolitan Police Department, I am sending the attached reply.
Written answers to the questions submitted by Mr. Kijuro Sugawara, a member of the House of Representatives, concerning statements made by a clinical psychologist at the Tachikawa Juvenile Center of the Metropolitan Police Department
Regarding the first point
We heard from the Metropolitan Police Department about the points you inquired about, and the summary of the interview is as follows.
The Metropolitan Police Department is not aware of the fact that a method called "confinement therapy" is being taught by Metropolitan Police Department officials. Regarding Mr. Takee's lecture, although Mr. Takee was consulted by the parents of a girl who ran away from home more than ten years ago, and actually only heard about the experience from the father who visited him again about a year after the consultation, he emphasized the necessity of parental care and deep affection in raising a child so much that he called the lecture "confinement therapy". However, in emphasizing the need for parental care and deep affection in the upbringing of a child, the Government introduced the case in a manner that could be taken to imply that the "confinement therapy" method existed and was used in accordance with his guidance.
Therefore, the government is aware of the fact that there is no such method of "confinement therapy" being taught by the Metropolitan Police Department staff.
(2) From 2 to 7
All of the above questions are premised on the existence of the fact that the "confinement therapy" as you have pointed out is being taught by the Metropolitan Police Department officials.
