Japanese Unification Church (UC-J) members have filed civil law suits against Minister Sakae Kurotori, Minister Yoshio Shimizu with the Yokohama District Court, and Minister Yoshio Shimizu with the Tokyo District Court, claiming that they suffered compulsive renunciation of faith. In those trials, both parties are submitting written claims and testimonies and the courts are mainly confirming the claims. These procedures will finish within this year and the hearing of witnesses will begin next year.

There are audiences in both courts, but, in the Yokohama District Court, audience seats are divided by lot because many people attend. In the last Yokohama trial, 18 UC-J members appeared and 11 were chosen by lot, while In Tokyo, only one UC-J observer was allowed in the court.

One of the plaintiffs of the Tokyo case is the member of The International Coalition for Religious Freedom, which has headquarters in the United States. The Coalition has maintained that the conduct of both ministers was religious oppression. Letters have also been sent to UMC, NCC/USA, WCC to request help in stopping the oppressive activities of these ministers. These groups now have a relationship with UCC-J and have been inquiring into the situation. Also, NCCJ officially proclaimed that they support UCC-J concerning this issue, and UCC-J has begun to receive the support of various churches abroad.

The next Tokyo trial is on 12.10 and the next Yokohama trial is on 12.17.