The Religious Organization's View on Bungeishunju's Publication 'I Grew Up in a House with a 'God' ~ We, the Second Generation of Religion ~'

The fifth episode included in the manga 'I Grew Up in a House with a 'God' ~ We, the Second Generation of Religion ~' (authored by Mariko Kikuchi), published by Bungeishunju, seems to depict Happy Science, but it contains many factual inaccuracies and unjust depictions of the objects of faith and doctrines, which significantly harm the faith of the organization's believers.

This manga was serialized on Shueisha's website 'Yomitai' in February this year and later published as a book by Bungeishunju. During this process, many factual inaccuracies present in the Shueisha version were deleted or corrected. For example, the passage 'If you are caught dating, you will be locked in a small room with a key' was deleted, and in the passage 'There was also an altar in the house that cost about 3 million yen,' the amount was deleted. Additionally, scenes that slander without specific points, such as 'doctrines full of flaws,' were also deleted. This indicates that Bungeishunju and Mariko Kikuchi effectively acknowledged the factual inaccuracies in the Shueisha version of the manga.

The main clear factual inaccuracies in the manga are as follows.

1. 'If you don't attend the night prayer or break the curfew, you will have to listen endlessly to the founder's sermons in a small room.'

→ There is no such fact. If you don't attend the night prayer or are late for the curfew, at most, you will receive a verbal warning.

2. 'The president is also recommended to go to the University of Tokyo.'

→ There is no such fact.

3. 'In the mountains, it takes an hour by bus and train to the city center.'

→ It takes 30 minutes by bus to the nearest city center.

4. 'About two periods of religious time per week.'

→ It is one period per week. Also, private schools are legally allowed to substitute moral education time with religious time.

5. 'A house like a castle.'

→ It is not a house but a religious facility for communicating with the spiritual upper world, supported by many clergy performing sacred duties.

6. 'Made unable to do anything.'

→ There are no such restrictions, and various career choices are made at each individual's discretion. Among the over a thousand graduates, some have become staff of the organization, while many have found employment in general companies and are active in various fields.

7. 'Told to work for the organization after graduating from university.'

→ We do not teach such things.

Additionally, the manga depicts 'It was discovered that my mother had incurred a large debt in my name.' This seems to refer to a scholarship, but scholarships can only be borrowed in the person's name. In the case of this manga, in reality, the mother has been repaying all the scholarships from the beginning.

Admission to the academy's high school was the individual's will, and during their time at the academy, they actively participated in club activities and went on to a general university after graduation. Ten years have passed since graduation, and the individual has cut off contact with worried family, teachers, and friends.

At the beginning of the manga, there is a scene where the protagonist, at 24 years old, attempts suicide by overdosing on drugs, but our group repeatedly teaches that 'you must not commit suicide.' Humans are given 'eternal life' as children of God, and the materialistic and atheistic view that 'everything disappears when you die' is wrong.

Additionally, the manga author, Mariko Kikuchi, is a second-generation former Soka Gakkai member, and it seems that the 'anti-other-religion' ideology seen in some Nichiren sects is strongly reflected. Kikuchi stated in a tweet about the manga, 'If you are bound by things like not hurting, fairness, neutrality, and presenting both sides, the second-generation issue will not even be brought to the table,' but this is an irresponsible statement acknowledging the low truthfulness of her manga. Since it deals with an existing religious organization, it does not mean that it is acceptable to harm the 'precious faith' of many believers.

President Ryuho Okawa is the 'object of faith' of our organization, to which many believers dedicate their precious faith. The manga contains many depictions that hurt the faith feelings of the organization's believers. For example, a character who clearly resembles the organization's president is depicted with the line 'Made into the first batch of the religious academy,' as if he is the cause of the protagonist's misfortune. However, in reality, most academy graduates believe that by having faith, they have gained a stable and peaceful mind along with an unwavering view of life and have 'become happy.' Depictions that distort facts like in this manga, or introducing only a very few biased and one-sided negative opinions, foster aversion to that religion and 'religious discrimination,' which itself is a 'human rights issue' that troubles the children of families with faith.

Additionally, the manga states, 'The founder's eldest son has started exposing the internal affairs of the organization.' However, Hiroshi is only pretending to be knowledgeable about the internal affairs of our organization and making false statements. In fact, in the court cases concerning YouTube videos filed by our organization and the book 'Separation from Happy Science' published by Bungeishunju, many of Hiroshi's falsehoods were recognized, and he was ordered to pay damages and delete related videos, with our group winning the case (Tokyo District Court January 21, 2022, ruling, Tokyo District Court March 4, same year, ruling). Furthermore, in the appeal ruling concerning the YouTube video case, the Tokyo High Court recognized defamation in parts not acknowledged in the first trial, pointed out Hiroshi's unrepentant attitude as 'malicious,' increased the damages by 70%, and ordered the deletion of the videos (Tokyo High Court September 29, same year, ruling). In these rulings, not a single point of Hiroshi's claims was recognized as true.

Shueisha, which decided to stop the publication of the manga, stated as the reason, 'It cannot be denied that it hurt the believers of specific religions or organizations and their faith,' and 'We take this seriously and apologize,' responding sincerely based on the publisher's conscience. However, this time, Bungeishunju published the book without conducting any fact-checking interviews with our group, leaving many factual inaccuracies. Freedom of speech and publication is based on the premise that market participants have conscience and common sense, but it must be said that Bungeishunju lacks conscience.

Bungeishunju published a malicious manga work aiming to damage the image of our organization through false impression manipulation, hurting the precious faith of many people. The company should first reflect on itself, fully recognize the weight of this responsibility, and sincerely face 'what is correct reporting.'