Today's post is continuation of Toru Goto's statement submitted to Tokyo District Court. In today's article, section 5 (1) is translated into English. Original documents in Japanese can be viewed at here.
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| Mr.Toru Goto when he was finally released from the 12 years' confinement in Feb 2008. Photo by Mr.Kazuhiro Yonemoto |
Mr.Toru Goto is taken to Niigata from Tokyo in today's statement. This was the event which occurred in 1995. Niigata is 200km north from Tokyo, facing Sea of Japan. Check at Google maps.
Index of the Toru Goto's statement
- Personal History
- Joining Unification Church (1986)
- First Confinement (Oct 1987 - Nov 1987)
- After Escape from First Confinement
- Second Confinement
(1) Confinement in Niigata (Sep 1995)
(2) Transferred to First Apartment in Tokyo (1997)
(3) Transferred to Second Apartment in Tokyo (Dec 1997)
(4) Miyamura's deprogramming work
(5) First Hunger Strike – 21 days
(6) Second Hunger Strike – 21 days
(7) Third Hunger Strike – 30 days
(8) Release from Prison - After Hospitalization
- At the End
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5. Second Confinement
(1) Confinement in Niigata
When I was staying at my parents’ house in Nishi-Tokyo City at night on Sep 11, 1995, the peaceful atmosphere changed amid the rising tension. My father said to me, ”Toru, I have something to talk to you about.” Then he started to criticize the Unification Church. Then he said, ”Let’s move to another place.” I thought, “I was trapped again.” I said, “We can talk here” and I protested for a while whilst seated. Then my brother’s wife said, “We have better things to do than staying here. Let’s go.” My brother and father held me from the both sides, and forcefully lifted me up. As my mother, brother’s wife, sister, and other men coming out of the hiding place of the garden surrounded me, I had no way to resist. And I was dragged out of the house and forcefully pushed into a van, and abducted.
When I was staying at my parents’ house in Nishi-Tokyo City at night on Sep 11, 1995, the peaceful atmosphere changed amid the rising tension. My father said to me, ”Toru, I have something to talk to you about.” Then he started to criticize the Unification Church. Then he said, ”Let’s move to another place.” I thought, “I was trapped again.” I said, “We can talk here” and I protested for a while whilst seated. Then my brother’s wife said, “We have better things to do than staying here. Let’s go.” My brother and father held me from the both sides, and forcefully lifted me up. As my mother, brother’s wife, sister, and other men coming out of the hiding place of the garden surrounded me, I had no way to resist. And I was dragged out of the house and forcefully pushed into a van, and abducted.
I was shocked and felt fearful that my family kidnapped me again in spite of the promise not to do it again. I was in despair and lost my drive to resist as I found out that my family was fully prepared for this event by mobilizing men and letting them hide in the garden to prevent me from escaping . I knew later that the man hiding in the garden was an employee of Tap Co., Ltd which Miyamura owned.
My family members and strangers (could be my uncle) were in the van. I couldn’t recognize the driver of the van. I was forced to sit in the middle of the seat in the far back row, and my brother sat on the right hand side, and my father sat on the left. My father always held my arm. I furiously protested to my family, “You said you wouldn’t do it again.” No reply from my family members. I asked “where are you taking me?” My brother replied, “You will know when we get there.” He didn’t tell me the destination. I was taken to Niigata under confinement in the van.
Nature called in the van on the way to the destination. I demanded that I had to go to the toilet. My family members did not allow me to go to the toilet, and gave me a plastic portable toilet instead, and told me to use it. I had to relieve nature in the van in which there were some strangers. It was very humiliating to me. No one talked in the van, and the atmosphere in the van was very tense.
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| Palace Mansion Tamon with Mr.Toru Goto taken from SekaiNippo website |
Security locks called “Window Lock” (Pic 2) were fitted on all of the windows of the room, so the windows couldn’t be opened from inside. A window lock was fitted on the door of the room “A” (See the Chart 2), so the door of the room “A” was locked permanently. I never saw the door opened.
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| Click on the photo to enlarge. |
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| Click on chart to enlarge. |
The memory of my suffering from the previous confinement in the Keio Plaza Hotel and forcible de-conversion process 8 year earlier was recalled, and I couldn’t go to sleep, imagining the suffering would start again, and I had a sudden urge to shout. Just abduction, confinement and no freedom would cause people immeasurable amounts of distress and pain. But on top of that, the abduction and confinement for the purpose of forcible de-conversion trample my faith which is precious and more important than my own life. There are no words to express such fear and distress that I wouldn’t be released until I abandoned my faith.
In the room, my parents, sister and my brother’s wife were always monitoring me. A few days later, my father said to me, “Toru, can you please tell us about the Divine Principle which you believe?”
This is a systematic method that deprogrammers instruct family members to use in forcible de-conversion. Deprogrammers let the victim explain the doctrine they believe. Then after family members listen to the victim’s explanation, they would say, “I understand what you explained. This time, please listen to our explanation.” So they make a chance for deprogrammers to act as a third party to intervene.
I was furious and thought that I didn’t need to explain anything under forcible confinement. But out of the desire that I want to be free as quickly as possible, I explained the Divine Principle to my family by drawing charts on the writing pads. When my explanation finished a week later, as I expected, my father spoke to me, ”There is a Christian minister who knows about the Unification Church very well. I want you to listen to him.”
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| Niitsu Fukuin Christ Chruch photo by Mr.Hisao Ogawa And Pastor Yasuhiro Matsunaga(Right Top) taken from the church's website. |
Matsunaga compared the established Christian churches with the Unification Church and insulted me by saying, “Can’t you distinguish *Miso from *Kuso?” He asked me, “The word of Messiah comes from the Bible. Why is Sun Myung Moon a Messiah? Please explain based on the Bible.” I replied, “Everyone has freedom what to believe. I became a UC member as I was impressed with the Divine Principle. If you want break my faith, present me something more than the Divine Principle instead of criticizing.” Then Matsunaga answered, ”I was asked by your parents to persuade you (not to witness you to Christian church). The first thing you have to do is to look at the problematic Unification Church. This is a place for such discussion.” I opposed by saying, “It is impossible to have such discussion under this kind of forcible environment. You are coward. The UC which you criticize never confine people in order to gain members.” He didn’t listen to me, nor showed any prick of conscience. His attitude made my blood boil.
*Notes by translator: Miso = bean paste = something valuable, Kuso = turd = something worthless while they have something common in color and shape.
At on one occasion, Matsunaga criticized the Divine Principle which explains the UC doctrine, "The Divine Principle says adultery is the most serious sin, but this is wrong. In the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, adultery is the 7th command, and not the first. Son of man is man. Young of monkey is monkey. Christ, son of God is surely God. Why can man become a son of God? Christ, son of God mustn’t be someone other than Jesus who is God himself. Sun Myung Moon who is a human definitely can be a messiah.” Matsunaga regarded his church doctrine which he believes in as absolute, and on the other hand he regarded the UC doctrine as heretic, and criticized. Matsunaga sometimes raised his voice when excited, and yelled on me, “The Unification Church is a criminal group. A man who always says money, money, money can’t be Messiah. He is completely different from Jesus. ” He caused me mental distress.
At the same time, total of around 20 former UC members who were deprogrammed by Matsunaga visited the apartment by turn, and I was forced to listen to their stories why they quit the church. Among the visitors were A (Female), Mr. Hiroaki Koike (pastor at the Niitsu Fukuin Church in Niigata), B (Male), C (Male). Their stories were always critical comments on the UC, its teachings and the founder. I was forced to listen day after day in the closed space to their stories, which I did not want to listen. I had unbearable pain, and I felt I would be mentally ill. I had to pray to God, “I may be going mad. If so, I’m not be able to worship you. Please protect me.”
I was surrounded by Matsunaga, former UC members and family members in a prison-like confinement room. They as a group shot criticism at me. This was exactly the same as the witch-hunt inquisition in the medieval Christian church. When I was experiencing such act of barbarism in modern Japan,which guarantees freedom and democracy, I couldn’t help but lament if Japan is really a state governed by rule of law.
Among the UC members who renounced the UC after receiving Matsunaga’s de-conversion process, there were some people who commuted to Matsunaga’s church for rehabilitation purpose after release from the forced confinement. They stated that Matsunaga at that time conducted study sessions every Saturday afternoon to teach how to remove children from the UC for around 20 parents who wanted their children withdraw from the UC at Niitsu Fukuin Christ Church in Niigata where Matsunaga himself belonged to. At the study sessions, they showed 8 kinds of videos to teach the reality of the UC and the method of UC member’s thinking. In the video, Matsunaga himself was talking.
Especially the videos tilted “Handling 1 & 2” explained the way how parents should behave before and during the persuasion process in confinement in order to de-convert children, and also the videos showed how to deal with after the confinement. Parents of UC followers’ children attended the study sessions and watched the videos over and over again.
Parents were taught that the UC church members couldn’t be removed from the UC by any other methods except for the persuasion involving abduction and confinement. If parents consulted with Magusnaga, he suggested that they should attend 2-day seminar. This seminar was held in order to train and educate parents, so the parents could carry out abduction and confinement for their children who are the UC followers. The most important part of the seminars was specific simulated training how to abduct and confine children. Matsunaga himself gave lectures on specific contents for the abduction and confinement using a blackboard.
Mr. Hirohisa Koide, who attended the seminar with Matsunaga many times and even gave lectures for the seminar testified in detail about the very specific instructions of the methods to use. Also Mr. Koide accompanied Matsunaga to an apartment in Niigata called “Royal Corp” to make the room ready for confinement. He was asked to hold the chain type lock, which was used to lock the front door from inside, and he installed special tools on windows so that windows couldn’t be opened from inside. Also he nailed down the sliding doors to make them un-usable. These jobs were done according to the Matsunaga’s instructions. I can’t help but feel anger and indignation towards the pastor who was instructing something dreadful and awful behind the scenes. A pastor is supposed to give people consolation in sole.
It is almost impossible that the parents of the UC members, who had no experience or knowledge of de-conversion can plan on their own and carry it out without Matsunaga’s education and instruction. No normal person can think of such a fully prepared plan and perfectly organized abduction/confinement process. My parents carried out forcible de-conversion by abduction and confinement for 3 times to their 3 children including myself. I have no doubt that my parents asked Matsunaga for consultation and instruction.
It looked like they had an arrangement of how many times they should knock on the door when Matsunaga or former UC members visited the apartment. I always heard knocks on the door a few times like a signal. Then my family members looked nervous and hurried to the door, and then welcomed them. When I heard the sound of the knock, my body got filled with a tense and tremendous sense of discomfort, and I was attacked by the feeling that blood drained from my face.
Even though 3 years have passed since the release from the confinement, I still suffer the after-effects. When I hear the sound of the knock on the door, I get a chill and a feeling of discomfort attacking me.
As my brother was working in Tokyo, he only sometimes visited the apartment. Whenever he came, he used to ask me, ”What are you thinking now? How about pastor Matsunaga’s talk? Are you still confident in the Principle (the doctrine of the UC)? ” My brother must have been checking how much the persuasion was progressing and how much I was free from “so called mind control which they say”. I felt unspeakable anger and disgust towards their methods, which controlled information under forcible confinement and were intrusive to my heart (thought and creed).
I had a fiancee whom I met at the UC wedding a month earlier and we pledged our love for the future. As I couldn’t contact her, I thought in my mind, “What is she doing now? She must be worrying about me. She must be looking for me.” My heart ached.
At around the end of December 1995 when 3 and half months had passed since the confinement, I judged that it would be impossible to be released from this situation. I decided to pretend to renounce the church against my will in order to escape. As a sign to withdraw from the church, I wrote a “letter of withdraw” from the Unification Church against my will. After I wrote the letter, Matsunaga instructed me to write a report why I decided to leave the UC. I was made to write 10-page report.
It was used as a test to see whether I really abandoned my faith in the UC. Even though I kept the faith in the UC, to write such a thing was nothing more than pain. I hid my true thought with a hope that I could be released as soon as possible, and I wrote the letter as Matsunaga and family members wished.
Even if I wanted to escape from the apartment, I could not action it during the pretension period. It was a time to cause me considerable degree of tension. Because for an example if I took an action to approach the front door to check the lock and if my pretension was discovered, it would be more difficult to be released and pastor Matsunaga would re-start deprogramming work on me, and it was sure that I would be forced to listen to defamation and abuse. It was an unbearable experience to me.
Therefore I couldn’t take any action, which made the captors doubt that I didn’t give up my faith during this period until the time I could definitely escape would arrive. I could do nothing but wait patiently for the time I could run away perfectly. But my family kept on confining me even after I declared that I would withdraw from the church. As I ran away from the first confinement in 1987 by pretending to renounce the church, I thought my family became more cautious.
I was not allowed to go outside. I became impatient and said to my family, “Can I go for a walk even for a short while as I feel suffocated in this apartment? “ My family did not allow me to do so. Time had passed and I was almost burst with a growing frustration. Also as I was in a fume against the illicit confinement, I accused my family, “One year has already passed since I wrote a withdrawal letter. Why you don’t allow me even to go for a walk? ” I judged that such my accusation would delay my release. At the beginning of 1997, I decided not to mention such things, and I just kept on waiting very patiently for the day when I would be released from the apartment to come.
In March 1996, my father who was monitoring me in the apartment suddenly became ill, and he was hospitalized. He had a heart bypass operation. I was not released at all. After the operation, he came back to the apartment. In March 1997, he was hospitalized again with cancer, and died on June 22, 1997. (He was 65 years old.) Because of my father’s hospitalization, there was a time when there was only a woman in the apartment to monitor me. But due to the special lock on the front door and the reason above I couldn’t do anything but continue waiting until the moment would arrive to escape perfectly.
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End of translation.
Information Source:
http://antihogosettoku.blog111.fc2.com/blog-entry-23.html
Pictures/Chart:
http://antihogosettoku.blog111.fc2.com/blog-entry-23.html
http://www.worldtimes.co.jp/special2/ratikankin/100216.html
http://www.rachiinfo.com/blog/2009/11/30/%E5%BE%8C%E8%97%A4%E5%BE%B9%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%92%E5%B9%B4%EF%BC%95%E3%81%8B%E6%9C%88%E6%8B%89%E8%87%B4%E7%9B%A3%E7%A6%81%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6/
Lint to other part of Goto's statement
Goto's Statement Part 1
Goto's Statement Part 2
Goto's Statement Part 3
Goto's Statement Part 4 (First Half)
Goto's Statement Part 4 (Second Half)
Goto's Statement Part 5
Goto's Statement Part 6
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End of translation.
Information Source:
http://antihogosettoku.blog111.fc2.com/blog-entry-23.html
Pictures/Chart:
http://antihogosettoku.blog111.fc2.com/blog-entry-23.html
http://www.worldtimes.co.jp/special2/ratikankin/100216.html
http://www.rachiinfo.com/blog/2009/11/30/%E5%BE%8C%E8%97%A4%E5%BE%B9%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%92%E5%B9%B4%EF%BC%95%E3%81%8B%E6%9C%88%E6%8B%89%E8%87%B4%E7%9B%A3%E7%A6%81%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6/
Lint to other part of Goto's statement
Goto's Statement Part 1
Goto's Statement Part 2
Goto's Statement Part 3
Goto's Statement Part 4 (First Half)
Goto's Statement Part 4 (Second Half)
Goto's Statement Part 5
Goto's Statement Part 6
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