Happiness Science Group Public Relations Division's View on the 'Weekly Shincho' Article

Regarding the article about our group's movie published in 'Weekly Shincho' (March 7 issue), there was no prior interview conducted with our organization by the editorial department (Editor-in-Chief Taichi Miyamoto), resulting in an article with numerous errors and defamatory expressions. We hereby correct these errors and present our group's view as follows.

In the Shincho article, expressions that blaspheme our organization's President Ryuho Okawa and his sacred spiritual messages are used, such as 'spiritual messages where one pretends to be a complete stranger and speaks freely,' 'repeatedly delivering spiritual messages of celebrities for prestige and engaging in filmmaking,' and 'posing as a creator.'

However, 'spiritual messages' are mystical phenomena where spirits from the afterlife are invited to convey their thoughts and words. This is only possible for those who have attained a high level of enlightenment and is different from 'medium phenomena' where one loses consciousness in a trance state and the spirit speaks unilaterally.

Furthermore, our group's engagement in filmmaking is based on the eternal truths of 'truth,' 'goodness,' and 'beauty,' aiming to produce numerous high-spirited films that provide courage and hope to viewers. The spiritual messages of celebrity guardian spirits are recorded and released to reveal the sincere efforts and mindset supporting their popularity, serving as a guide for those aspiring to the entertainment industry.

These expressions in the Shincho article fundamentally lack understanding of our organization's doctrines and activities and are defamatory.

Additionally, the Shincho article, citing statements from 'former believers,' claims that a 'branch with about 300 members on the roster' is 'required by headquarters to sell about 30 million yen worth of tickets,' 'branch managers may be demoted if they cannot clear 10 million yen,' and 'individuals purchase over 10 million yen worth of tickets,' but such facts do not exist, and absurd numbers are being highlighted. There is also no fact of personnel demotion due to failure to achieve movie targets.

Furthermore, the Shincho article states about the currently screening movie 'My Girlfriend is a Witch' open_in_new that it was 'a movie with more frequent use of organizational terms than ever before' and 'because I was almost made to marry Fumika Shimizu'... However, 'My Girlfriend is a Witch' debuted at 3rd place in the movie rankings and has received wide support.

Also, there is no fact that our past movies have toned down religious elements. In the movie 'Your Gaze' released the year before last, there is a scene performing our organization's practice 'El Cantare Fight.' Additionally, in the movie 'The Laws of the Sun: The Path to El Cantare' open_in_new (released in 2000) and the movie 'The Golden Laws: The Historical View of El Cantare' open_in_new (released in 2003), the name 'El Cantare' is used in the titles themselves.

Regarding Hiroshi's claim of 'almost being made to marry Fumika Shimizu,' it is objectively clear that it was Hiroshi himself who brought up the marriage talk at the end of January the year before last.Audio Published by Our Organization on the Official Website

The Shincho article uses multiple comments from Zenro Fujikura, but he is a person who has been indicted and is undergoing trial procedures for multiple counts of trespassing into our organization's religious facilities, and is also under investigation. He is a person who has even committed acts of blasphemy against our organization's object of worship.

Therefore, it can be said that the magazine has employed a person whom the mass media, as a public social entity, should not seek comments from.

Our group has protested to 'Weekly Shincho' and Zenro Fujikura as mentioned above, and hereby publicly announces this again.