Buzz
Japan is renowned for its rich tapestry of spiritual practices and mystical traditions. In the aftermath of World War II, the country’s pacifist Constitution ushered in unprecedented religious freedom. While this openness fostered diversity, it also led to the emergence of several unusual cults, including the infamous Aum Shinrikyo, responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack. This compilation highlights ten lesser-known Japanese cults whose eccentric leaders and followers redefine the boundaries of peculiarity.
10. Yamagishi Society
Status: Active
Miyozo Yamagishi, a chicken farmer, established a rural community in 1952 to provide refuge for individuals disenchanted by Japan’s rapid industrialization. Over the years, the Yamagishi Society has expanded to include thousands of followers both in Japan and internationally. Members reside in small communes, primarily engaging in agricultural activities. The society sustains itself by selling produce and dairy goods. Within the commune, all resources are shared freely. Despite its idyllic appearance, former members have revealed the group’s strict practices. Prospective members must relinquish all personal belongings to join. Once admitted, leaders tightly control every aspect of members’ lives. Alarmingly, children aged five and older are separated from their parents and placed in a children-only commune, where they are urged to become self-reliant.
9. Pana-Wave Laboratory
Status: Unknown
Yuko Chino, the eccentric founder of this peculiar cult in 1977, combined bizarre beliefs with questionable fashion choices. She and her followers claimed that electromagnetic waves were responsible for environmental catastrophes and that a mysterious tenth planet would disrupt Earth’s magnetic fields, heralding the apocalypse. Stranger still, they accused communists of targeting them with electromagnetic attacks. To shield themselves, they dressed entirely in white, wore surgical masks, and traveled in white vehicles. The group gained notoriety in March 2003 when they attempted to kidnap a famous wild seal, a local celebrity, from a Tokyo river, believing its return to the wild would avert disaster.
In April, one month later, the cult took over a road in a mountainous region west of Tokyo. They draped white fabric over crash barriers and trees, claiming to prepare a sanctuary for their predicted apocalypse on May 15 of that year. Authorities dismantled their camp, forcing the group to relocate to a remote village to await the end of the world. When May 15 passed uneventfully, the cult’s deputy leader revised the doomsday date to May 22. After the world again failed to end, the group vanished into obscurity. Years later, Harold Camping repeated the same failed doomsday predictions, meeting a similarly spectacular failure.
8. East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front
Status: Inactive
This self-destructive cult was formed in the late 1960s by radical left-wing students who opposed Japan’s historical oppression of minorities and neighboring nations. They claimed that before Japanese influence, indigenous groups like the Ainus, Okinawans, and ethnic Koreans lived in perfect harmony with nature.
From 1974 to 1975, the group executed bombings targeting industries they accused of exploiting ethnic minorities and other Asian nations. Notably, their attack on Mitsubishi’s headquarters resulted in eight deaths and
7. Ho No Hana Sampogyo (Flower Of Buddhist Teaching)
Status: Inactive
This cult, infamously known as the “foot-reading cult,” offered salvation while exploiting its followers. Founded in 1980 by Hogen Fukunaga, who declared himself the successor to Jesus Christ and Buddha, he claimed supernatural abilities to diagnose illnesses and predict the future by examining feet. He pressured followers into costly seminars to “cure” their ailments and resolve personal issues. His primary targets were housewives, but he also directed his followers to recruit hospital patients, particularly those preparing for surgeries. Authorities eventually uncovered his fraudulent activities, leading to Fukunaga’s arrest, the cult’s bankruptcy, and his 12-year prison sentence.
6. Life Space Movement
Status: Active
Koji Takahashi, an accountant turned self-proclaimed enlightened guru, began offering costly self-enlightenment seminars in 1983. He claimed to have mastered supernatural healing techniques from an Indian healer, whom he had followed through 6,000 years of reincarnations. Over time, he gathered 200 core members and a significant following. In 1999, Takahashi attempted to heal a long-time cult member who had fallen into a coma due to a cerebral hemorrhage. He instructed the member’s son, also a follower, to move the man from the hospital to a hotel room. Takahashi performed his “shakty pats” healing sessions, but without medical intervention, the man died. The cult interpreted his decomposing body as a sign of recovery.
Concerned hotel staff alerted the police, who discovered the mummified corpse, estimated to have been decomposing for over four months. Takahashi was arrested but insisted the police autopsy caused the man’s death. Convicted of murder and demonstrating a lack of basic biological understanding, Takahashi received a 15-year sentence, later reduced to 7.5 years after the judge concluded he genuinely believed he was trying to save the victim.
5. Kofuku-No-Kagaku (Institute For Research In Human Happiness)
Status: Active
In 1981, Ryuho Okawa, a businessman, declared he had achieved a “Great Enlightenment,” becoming a vessel for religious icons like Jesus Christ and Muhammad. By 1986, he founded Happy Science, blending Buddhist teachings with materialistic principles. In 1995, he elevated himself to divine status by adopting the title “El Cantare, the Grand Spirit of the Terrestrial Spirit Group.”
The group has expanded to hundreds of thousands of members across multiple countries. It also established a political arm, the Happiness Realization Party, launched by Okawa in 2009. Okawa claims to converse with deceased political and spiritual leaders, as well as the “guardian spirits” of living world figures. These dialogues are published on the group’s website (search for Mitt Romney for a humorous read).
What elevates this cult from merely strange to potentially dangerous is its ultranationalist ideology: Okawa has called for a more aggressive Japan and the annihilation of China and North Korea.
4. PL Kyodan (Church Of Perfect Liberty)
Status: Active
The origins of PL Kyodan date back to 1912, when Shinto priest Tokumitsu Kanada founded the sect Shinto Tokumitsu-kyo. After his death, his successor Tokuharu Miki renamed it Hito-no-Michi Kyodan (The Way of Man) in 1931. However, Japanese authorities, who upheld the emperor’s divine status, suppressed the group. Post-World War II, Tokuchika, Tokuharu’s grandson, revived the sect under the name Perfect Liberty Kyodan. Today, its headquarters are in Tondabayashi, Japan, with numerous members and churches worldwide.
The core philosophy of PL Kyodan is encapsulated in the phrase “life is art.” Followers are encouraged to express themselves creatively to achieve a meaningful existence. Even routine tasks like office work can become acts of devotion if performed with passion. In Japan, the group is often called the “golf religion” due to its many golf courses. Their headquarters even features an all-girls dormitory where high school students work as part-time caddies to fund their education. We must admit, joining this cult seems quite appealing.
3. Yamato No Miya (Temple Of Japan)
Status: Active
In 1977, Ajiki Tenkei, a Japanese woman, founded Komei No Kai after claiming Buddha instructed her to save humanity. Seven years later, she received another revelation, this time from Telebeyt, a Venusian alien and messenger of A Lah, the universe’s ruler. Telebeyt explained that contaminated drinking water clouded human minds, leading to self-destruction. He directed Tenkei to locate a sacred water source and taught her to create “Pyramid-Power Water,” which could purify minds. Tenkei renamed her group Yamato No Miya and embarked on her mission. She found the sacred water in mountains near her hometown, transforming the site into a shrine and pilgrimage destination. She claims her water has saved countless individuals, including skeptics who drank it.
2. Online Suicide Groups in Japan
Status: Currently Active
Suicide has long been a significant aspect of Japanese culture, from the era of samurai to the kamikaze pilots during World War II. This tragic tradition has been further perpetuated by modern technology. The internet has facilitated the spread of primarily Japanese online groups that seek individuals willing to participate in suicide. Although these groups existed before, they came to the attention of law enforcement in 2003. Since then, the number of Japanese citizens joining these groups has risen alarmingly each year. Common methods include inhaling charcoal fumes in enclosed spaces like rooms or vehicles. This method was later replaced by hydrogen sulfide gas after these groups began instructing members on its use in 2008. Thousands have lost their lives in these suicide agreements, and disturbingly, these groups remain active today.
1. Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan (World True Light Civilization Religious Organization)
Status: No Longer Active
In 1959, Kotama Okada claimed to have received a divine mandate to save the world. Already a member of a religious sect, Okada established his own organization named Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan, commonly referred to as Mahikari. Following his death, the group divided into two factions: one kept the original name under the leadership of a male successor, while the other rebranded as Sukyo Mahikari, now headed by Okada Keishu, his adopted daughter.
The beliefs held by Mahikari members are nothing short of astonishing. They assert that Japan was the focal point of global history, with ancient Japanese rulers overseeing a worldwide utopia that encompassed civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia. They even claim that their emperor taught the Jews Hebrew. Their current mission is to unify all races and religions, establishing a Japanese-led paradise on earth under their emperor's rule. Sound familiar?
