Victory for Happy Science in High Court Ruling! ~ High Court Recognizes Maliciousness of Hiroshi's YouTube and Increases Damages ~

In the appeal trial of the defamation lawsuit filed on June 28, 2019, by Happy Science, New Star Production Co., Ltd., and ARI Production Co., Ltd., seeking a total of 20 million yen in damages for multiple YouTube videos by Hiroshi, the Tokyo High Court on September 29, 2022, ruled in favor of the Happy Science group, following the district court's decision.

The high court ruling recognized defamation in areas not acknowledged by the district court, reassessed the extent of damages, and ordered Hiroshi to pay 1.1 million yen to Happy Science, 440,000 yen to New Star Production Co., Ltd., and 660,000 yen to ARI Production Co., Ltd., totaling 2.2 million yen, which significantly exceeds the district court's ruling of 1.32 million yen. Additionally, Hiroshi was ordered to delete the YouTube videos deemed defamatory to the group, as per the district court's decision.

Furthermore, the reasoning for this ruling pointed out that Hiroshi stated after the district court's decision, "Even if ordered to delete the videos, I can just create and publish videos with the same content," indicating that he "has not reflected on the defamation and his attitude is malicious."

We sincerely hope that Hiroshi will take the defeat in both the district and high courts seriously, and deeply reflect and repent, refraining from blaspheming faith, making false statements, or slandering others ever again.