Freedom of religion in Japan: Difference between revisions
→Forced religious conversion: I don't endorse this source, but at least fix the link from a domain no longer owned by HRWF and leave it as is for the time being |
→Forced religious conversion: HRWF seems unreliable due to its association with CESNUR and Unification Church |
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===Forced religious conversion=== |
===Forced religious conversion=== |
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| ⚫ | The [[U.S. State Department]] cited the [[Human Rights Without Frontiers International]] report in the 2011 annual International Religious Freedom Report to Japan summarized that [[deprogrammer]]s cooperate with family members on "abductions" of members of the [[Unification Church]] and other minority religious groups for several years. In the same report, it cited reports by other NGOs which accused the Unification Church of "exaggerating or fabricating" reports of the unethical deprogramming efforts.<ref name="USState2011">{{Citation|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2011/eap/192631.htm |title=International Religious Freedom Report for 2011, Japan|work=[[United States Department of State]]|date=2012-07-30|access-date=2023-10-26}}</ref> |
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There is a possibility that victims of [[International child abduction in Japan|international abduction]] by a Japanese parent will be raised in a different religious context from those in which the parent(s) report the victim to have been abducted. |
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In the early 2000s [[Human Rights Without Frontiers International|Human Rights Without Frontiers]] reported a long-standing and persistent trend of abduction and deprivation of religious freedom in Japan for the purpose of religious de-conversions, in which families abduct a loved one who has adopted a faith seen as too extreme, confine them, and pressure them to give up their faith. The organization criticized the inactivity of Japanese police and judicial authorities in investigating and prosecuting this form of domestic violence in which kidnappings and long-term detentions are organized by family members in cooperation with "[[Exit counseling|exit counselors]]". Victims can suffer from severe psychological problems including [[Post traumatic stress disorder|PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)]]. HRWF emphasizes the extreme case of one Toro Goto, a [[Unification Church]] member, who was violently abducted and held in isolation for 12 years. Japanese officials are accused of acting passively and to have failed to investigate and indict his kidnappers. HRWF gives two pages of recommendations to the Japanese authorities and civil society in the conclusion of their report.<ref>Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l, [https://hrwf.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2012-Report-Japan.pdf Japan, Abduction and Deprivation of Freedom for the Purpose of Religious De-conversion], 2011-11-31, executive summary and conclusion</ref> HRWF submitted its report at the United Nations' 98th session of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances held 31 October 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland, entitled ''Religious Discrimination in Japan''.<ref> |
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===Other cases=== |
===Other cases=== |
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Revision as of 09:14, 26 October 2023
The Article 20 of the Japanese Constitution provides for freedom of religion in Japan.[1]
In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.[2]
Religious demography
The government of Japan does not require religious groups to report their membership, so it was difficult to accurately determine the number of adherents to different religious groups. The Agency for Cultural Affairs reported in 2017 that membership claims by religious groups totaled 182 million.[3] This is out of a total population of 127 million, but does not account for overlapping memberships (some families may be registered at both a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine), or double membership due to change of address. This number, which is nearly twice Japan's population, reflects many citizens' affiliation with multiple religions. For example, it is very common for Japanese to practice both Buddhist and Shinto rites.[1]
According to the Agency's annual yearbook, in 2020, 88 million persons identify themselves as Shinto, 84 million as Buddhist, 2 million as Christian, and over 7 million follow "other" religions,[1] including Tenrikyo, Seicho-no-Ie, the Church of World Messianity, and PL Kyodan.[3] Academics estimate that there are 230,000 Muslims in Japan, 20% of whom are Japanese citizens;[1] there are an estimated 2–4,000 Jews in the country.
As of December 2017, under the 1951 Religious Juridical Persons Law, the Government recognized 157 schools of Buddhism.[4] The six major schools of Buddhism are Tendai, Shingon, Jōdō, Zen (Sōtō and Rinzai sects), Nichiren, and Nanto Rokushū. In addition, there are a number of Buddhist lay organizations, including Soka Gakkai, which reported a membership of eight million. The two main schools of Shinto are the Association of Shinto Shrines and Kyohashinto. In addition, the postwar legal changes ended the Japanese imperial regime's use of discourses of "not religion" (hishūkyō) to protect the religious privileges of state backed Shinto movements.[5]
Status of religious freedom
Legal and policy framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice. At all levels, the Japanese Government seeks to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors.
As of December 2022, 180,544 religious groups were certified by the government as religious organizations with corporate status, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs.[1] The government does not require religious groups to register or apply for certification; however, certified religious organizations receive tax benefits. More than 83 percent of religious groups were certified by 2016.
Japanese law states that government schools cannot give religious instructions; private schools are permitted to teach specific religions.[1]
In the wake of the 1995 sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway system by Aum Shinrikyo, the Religious Juridical Persons Law was amended in 1996 to provide the government with the authority to supervise certified religious groups. The amended law requires certified religious organizations to disclose their assets to the government and empowers the government to investigate possible violations of regulations governing for-profit activities. Authorities have the right to suspend a religious organization's for-profit activities if they violate these regulations.
Forced religious conversion
The U.S. State Department cited the Human Rights Without Frontiers International report in the 2011 annual International Religious Freedom Report to Japan summarized that deprogrammers cooperate with family members on "abductions" of members of the Unification Church and other minority religious groups for several years. In the same report, it cited reports by other NGOs which accused the Unification Church of "exaggerating or fabricating" reports of the unethical deprogramming efforts.[6]
Other cases
In 2011, 14 Muslims filed a lawsuit against the government, when leaked documents showed that Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the National Police Agency systematically collected their personal data, religious activities and associations, allegedly because of their religion.[6] The case was dismissed in January 2014;[7] the court stated that the intrusive police surveillance was “necessary and inevitable” in order to protect Japan against the threat of international terrorism, although it did find that the police were negligent in protecting the information they had collected, and ordered compensation to be paid to the plaintiffs.
The conservative Liberal Democratic Party was founded by Nobusuke Kishi and later led by his grandson, former prime minister Shinzo Abe; the LDP has historically had links to the Unification Church.[8] In July 2022, Abe was assassinated by Tetsuya Yamagami, who stated that he resented the Unification Church as his mother was "forced" to make a large donation to it, which led to difficulties for his family.[9] It was announced in October 2022 that the Japanese government would start an investigation into the extent of Abe's relationship with the Unification Church.[10] The LDP also announced that they will expel any of its own members who did not break any ongoing relationships with the Unification Church.[11] The opposing Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Democratic Party for the People and Japanese Communist Party all plan to launch their own investigations into the Unification Church's political influence and connections in Japanese politics.[12]
See also
References
- United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Japan: International Religious Freedom Report 2007 and Japan: International Religious Freedom Report 2010. This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d e f US State Dept 2022 report
- ^ Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-08
- ^ a b "宗教年鑑 平成29年版" [Religious Yearbook, 2017] (PDF) (in Japanese). pp. 46–49. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
- ^ "宗教年鑑 平成29年版" [Religious Yearbook, 2017] (PDF) (in Japanese). p. 8. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
- ^ LeFebvre, 2021. "The Oppressor's Dilemma: How Japanese State Policy toward Religion Paved the Way for Christian Weddings." https://brill.com/view/journals/jrj/aop/article-1163-22118349-20210001/article-1163-22118349-20210001.xml
- ^ a b "International Religious Freedom Report for 2011, Japan", United States Department of State, 2012-07-30, retrieved 2023-10-26
- ^ Asia Pacific Journal website, article dated September 28, 2014
- ^ "【独自】安倍元首相を撃った山上徹也が供述した、宗教団体「統一教会」の名前（現代ビジネス編集部". Gendai Bijinesu (in Japanese). Kodansha. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ 父は急死、母は宗教団体へ多額の金 安倍氏銃撃容疑者の生い立ち：朝日新聞デジタル [Father died suddenly, mother went to a religious group A large amount of money Mr. Abe's background of the shooting suspect]. 朝日新聞デジタル (Asahi Shimbun) (in Japanese). 9 July 2022. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ "Unification Church: Japan to investigate religious group after Abe killing". BBC News. 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
- ^ 旧統一教会と関係絶てない議員「同じ党で活動できない」自民党・茂木幹事長 (in Japanese). Yahoo news Japan. 31 August 2022. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Unification Church ties to Japan's lawmakers emerge as major political issue". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
