Questioning the Responsibility of Using 'Religious Vandal' Zenro Fujikura as a Writer: Leaflets Distributed in Front of Shinchosha and Toyo Keizai Inc.

Yesterday (18th) and today (19th), we distributed leaflets in front of the headquarters of Shinchosha and Toyo Keizai Inc. to question the responsibility for employing and encouraging 'religious vandal' Zenro Fujikura as a writer.

Fujikura and others committed an unprecedented act of serious blasphemy against faith by kicking the Gohonzon, an object of worship, which they obtained without permission from our religious organization on Tuesday, September 11. Furthermore, on Tuesday the 18th, they demanded 3 million yen from our headquarters. Fujikura, who lacks any reverence for sacred deities, is not qualified to possess the Gohonzon, which is only allowed to be received from our organization.

Weekly Shincho has unjustly disparaged religion, a 'sacred domain,' by frequently employing such 'religious vandals' as writers. Additionally, Weekly Toyo Keizai, in its special issue on religion 'Unveiling the Taboos of the Religious World: Religion, Money, and Power' (released on August 27), employed Fujikura, who is currently a criminal defendant for illegally entering our religious facilities, as the writer in charge of our organization's article. The fact that these long-established magazines have emboldened Fujikura by employing him as a writer is the background to his blasphemous acts.

Both magazines symbolize the post-war Japanese media's negative tendency of 'not covering religion unless it has social incident value.' This prevalence of the negative view of religion strengthens the trend of denying the importance of faith, morality, effort, and spirituality, leading to the 'deterioration of this country.'

Our religious organization distributed leaflets questioning the responsibility of Shinchosha and Toyo Keizai Inc., urging them to recognize the fact that 'the media's tendency not to cover religion unless it has social incident value leads to the deterioration of this country' and to reflect on their narrow-minded perspective that could degrade the national character.

Leaflet distributed in front of Shinchosha