Forced De-Conversion Victim Statements

K. A. (name withheld by request)

Confined: February 1996-June 1996

Faith-breakers: Pascal Zivi, Hiroko Koyama, Mr. Mizuhiro Yasuda

WRITTEN STATEMENT

[NO DATE]

Profile

I was born to my father Eizaburo and mother Setsuko in Nemuro city, Hokkaido, on December 15, 1972, and I have a brother, Hideki, who is one year older than I am. I joined the Unification Church in September 1991, in Sapporo, when I was going to a vocational school. I attended the International Blessing of Marriage in August 1995 with Ms. Jeon Hwa Kim[vp1] , who is a Korean. My parents were completely against the Blessing. However, they underwent a sudden change afterward and acted as if they approved of it. I did not suspect anything when I visited my uncle’s home, when they confined me.

Kidnapping and Confinement

In February 1996, my family invited me to dinner at the home of my uncle, Eisuke A., who manages a construction company in Kushiro. After dinner, they told me they wanted to take me somewhere else to talk, and before I could respond, my family grabbed me from both sides. I was forced into a van that was parked outside the front door and taken to an apartment located in the Chuo Ward, Sapporo, five hours’ away from my uncle’s home.

The front door of the apartment was locked with a padlock and chain, and it was impossible to escape. At night, my father slept in front of the door, and my mother and brother slept beside me. One or two of my relatives were always there with my family to guard me until the day I was released. The windows were covered with plastic sheets so that they couldn’t be broken, and the front door couldn’t be opened by anybody but my family.

My parents did not force me to listen to doctrinal criticisms in the beginning. It seemed like they were waiting for me to realize the ambiguities in the doctrine and voluntarily ask them for their explanations. After a while, my parents made me listen to their criticisms of the church for a few days, but the content was very poor and it did not make me question the doctrine. My parents then became very impatient and said, “If you’re not willing to listen to doctrinal criticisms, we cannot let you out of here.” I had no other choice but to listen to them because I wanted to be released.

After that, I received visitors two or three times a week. Pascal Zivi, a member of the United Church of Christ in Japan and of the Mind Control Research Center, was one of them. Ms. Hiroko Koyama and Mr. Mizuhiro Yasuda, former members who used to do witnessing activities at the church with me, visited as well, and criticized the doctrine and Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

At times they were very tender and at other times they were stern, trying to corner me psychologically. They also tried to shake me up emotionally by telling me how difficult the situation was for my parents.

But when they found out that I was not going to renounce my faith, both my parents and Zivi gave up. I was released after 123 days of confinement. I was physically weak after the long confinement, but more damage was done to my emotions, because I was betrayed by my parents, brother and my relatives that I had trusted the most. I could not trust anybody for a long time after that. It even affected my daily social life.

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