Who is Toru Goto?
No, not the Olympic swimmer from Japan, who represented his native country at the 1952 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal as a member of the 4x200m freestyle relay team, alongside Yoshihiro Hamaguchi, Hiroshi Suzuki and Teijiro Tanikawa.
This one:
As his story has been presented by Unification Church officials; here is a man from Japan who just wanted to live in peace, while practicing his faith, attempting to raise a family and also studying to become an architect.
He was in his 30s, with a new wife, beloved by the young people of the congregation who called him teichou or "Captain" when he was taken the first time.
In America today, (NOT yesterday) such a scenario, even for those practicing a "new religion" would for all practical purposes and by logical reasoning still be SHOCKING.
In Japan, however, hardly a whimper or sound has been heard.
Why?
Is it because, zen-like and borrowing from the classic Hollywood sci-fi horror flick "Alien," :
"In Space No One Can Hear You Scream" ?
The reality seems to be somewhere within the spaces rather than in space itself.
The second time Mr. Goto was taken by "deprogrammers" and members of his own family, according to Mr. Goto's own testimony was on September 11, 1995.
The date is interesting.
The year also, it must be recalled (as Mr. Goto does), was the year of the Aum Shinriko sarin gas attacks on Tokyo subways. According to news reports from that time: "On the morning of 20 March 1995, Aum members released sarin gas in a coordinated attack on five trains in the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 commuters, seriously injuring 54 and affecting 980 more. Some estimates claim as many as 5,000 people were injured."
Here is where the story gets very strange and virtually, unfathomable.
TWELVE YEARS AND 5 MONTHS passed by and finally, finally, Mr. Goto is quite suddenly thrown out the usually bolted door of the condominium where he had been held captive.
The family and the paid captors -- along with one or two "Christian counselors" finally just gave up.
The second person Mr. Goto meets in his almost terminally emaciated and torn state, staggering down the busy street, is . . . a member of the Unification Church.
Miraculous . . .
This story, apart even from the many chilling details (revealed so far) of twelve and a half years of captivity, is quite simply -- astounding.
And, it is NOT the only one.
Truly, a gulag has been growing in Japan.
Mr. Goto today with his new bride
The Unification Church, it seems, has been used, in part, as scapegoat for the fears and insecurities of a nation as it apparently, yet, struggles to make sense of the events of March 20, 1995.
Hence, one might even see the battle against "Moonies" in Japan in similar light to the battle against terrorists in America and the world since the shocking, horrible events of September 11, 2001.
America (and the world) would do well to pay heed to this instance of blatant cruelty, even anti-religious terror, recalling also, what happens when one does not (e.g., The Waco Massacre of April 19, 1993).
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Added September 5, 2009:
Put an End to Religious Kidnapping and Forced Conversion!
To whom it may concern,
I have come to the United States at this time to share my ordeal as a victim of religious kidnapping and forced confinement for 12 years and 5 months, and to request the cooperation of American people like you in order to eliminate the practice of religious kidnapping and forced conversion that are still continuing to take place in Japan.
I came in contact with the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity at the age of 23, and my soul was transformed from a nihilistic one to one filled with hope and joy. However, my joy was short-lived as I soon encountered severe trials.
What I encountered was religious kidnapping and forced confinement where others tried to force me to abandon my faith. This took place not just once but twice. Fortunately, I was able to escape from the first confinement after one month. I subsequently changed my name from fear of another kidnapping, kept my whereabouts secret, and lived like an underground Christian believer.
One day, eight years after my first confinement, I was again kidnapped and forcibly confined. I was 31 years old. The second confinement lasted 12 years and 5 months. When I regained my freedom I was already 44 years old. During the confinement, I was subjected to all kinds of verbal and mental abuse by many individuals. I came to feel, “If such mental tortures continue, I want to die.” I prayed to God in agony, day after day, “Please send me to the life after death by tomorrow morning.”
Whenever I share with my acquaintances in the United States about the fact that such religious persecutions are taking place frequently in modern-day Japan, they all have a hard time believing it. In addition, when they hear that more than 4,000 people have been subjected to religious kidnapping and confinement for forced religious conversion in the past 40 years, most people just shake their heads saying, “I can’t believe it.”
Japan is widely regarded as a mature and advanced democratic nation where religious freedom is well established. However, the reality that 4,000 criminal acts of abuses through religious kidnapping and forced conversion such as my own case are not prosecuted raises fundamental doubts about whether or not Japan is
really a nation ruled by law. This is unfortunate. Actually, I said to myself many times during my confinement, "Am I really in Japan?"
In the United States, there was time when religious kidnapping, confinement and deprogramming cases took place frequently and became a social issue during 1970s and 1980s. However, the perpetrators were arrested, brought to justice through court trials and punished. Those illegal activities were virtually terminated by the end of the 1990s.
In order to eliminate such tragedies from continuing to occur in Japan, I have been working with other victims, who have experienced similar ordeals, and I established the Association to Eliminate Religious Kidnapping and Forced Conversion in September 2008. I have been publicly involved in the efforts to deal with this issue. I sincerely ask for help from the United States government officials, the human rights community and other who value religious freedom by helping to eliminate such tragedies from occurring in Japanese society.
More specifically, I would like to ask for help in creating the environment where some Christian ministers, lawyers and deprogrammers currently involved in religious kidnapping and forced conversion will not be able to continue their activities. Also, in the unfortunate event where religious kidnapping and forced confinement do take place, I would like to ask you to encourage the police and other authorities in Japan to swiftly act to rescue the victims and prosecute the offenders.
August 17, 2009
Toru Goto
Diagram of Ogikubo Flowerhome 804
Letter courtesy of The International Coalition for Religious Freedom a non-profit, non-sectarian, educational organization dedicated to defending the religious freedom of all, regardless of creed, gender or ethnic origin. ICRF acknowledges with gratitude that, at the current time, it receives the bulk of its funding from institutions and individuals related to the Unification Church community. Contributions to ICRF are tax-exempt under section 501-c-3 of the Internal Revenue Code of the USA.
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