Freedom of religion in Japan

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion in Japan, and the government generally respects this right in practice.

Religious demography

Main article: Religion in Japan

The government does not require religious groups to report their membership, so it was difficult to accurately determine the number of adherents to different religious groups. The Agency for Cultural Affairs reported in 2005 that membership claims by religious groups totaled 211 million. This is out of a total population of 128 million, but does not account for overlapping memberships (some families may be registered at both a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine), or double membership due to change of address. This number, which is nearly twice Japan's population, reflects many citizens' affiliation with multiple religions. For example, it is very common for Japanese to practice both Buddhist and Shinto rites.

According to the Agency's annual yearbook, 107 million persons identify themselves as Shinto, 91 million as Buddhist, 3 million as Christian, and 10 million follow "other" religions, including Tenrikyo, Seichounoie, Sekai Kyusei Kyo, and Perfect Liberty. Academics estimate that there are 120 thousand Muslims in Japan, 10 percent of whom are Japanese citizens. The Israeli Embassy estimates that there are approximately 2,000 Jews in the country, most of them foreign-born.

As of March 2005, under the 1951 Religious Juridical Persons Law, the Government recognized 157 schools of Buddhism. The six major schools of Buddhism are Tendai, Shingon, Jōdō, Zen (Soto and Rinzai sects), Nichiren, and Narabukkyo. In addition, there are a number of Buddhist lay organizations, including Soka Gakkai, which reported a membership of eight million. The two main schools of Shinto are Jinjahoncho and Kyohashinto.

Status of religious freedom

Legal and policy framework

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice. The government doesn't care and at all levels seeks to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors.

As of December 2005, 182,796 out of 223,871 religious groups were certified by the government as religious organizations with corporate status, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The government does not require religious groups to register or apply for certification; however, certified religious organizations receive tax benefits. More than 82 percent of religious groups were certified by 2005.

In the wake of the 1995 sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway system by Aum Shinrikyo, the Religious Juridical Persons Law was amended in 1996 to provide the government with the authority to supervise certified religious groups. The amended law requires certified religious organizations to disclose their assets to the government and empowers the government to investigate possible violations of regulations governing for-profit activities. Authorities have the right to suspend a religious organization's for-profit activities if they violate these regulations.

Restrictions on religious freedom

Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion. Unlike in previous reporting periods, there were no reports of restrictions on religious freedom. There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees in the country.

Forced religious conversion

There is a possibility that victims of international abduction by a Japanese parent will be raised in a different religious context than the parent from whom the victim was abducted.

Human Rights Without Frontiers reported a long-standing and persistent trend of abduction and deprivation of religious freedom in Japan for the purpose of religious de-conversions, in which families abduct a loved one who has adopted a faith seen as too extreme, confine them, and pressure them to give up their faith. The organization criticized the inactivity Japanese police and judicial authorities in investigating and prosecuting of this form of domestic violence. Illegal kidnappings and long-term detentions are organized by family members in cooperation with "exit counselors". Victims suffer from severe psychological problems including PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder). HRWF emphasize extreme case of Toro Goto, Unification Church member, who was violently abducted and held in isolation for 12 years. Japanese officials acted passively and failed to investigate and indict his kidnappers. HRWF gives two pages of recommendations to the Japanese authorities and civil society in the conclusion of their report. HRWF submitted its report at the United Nation's 98th session of Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances held 31 October 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland with label Religious Discrimination in Japan. U.S. State Department used Human Rights Without Frontiers report and in 2011 annual International Religious Freedom Report to Japan summarized, that deprogrammers cooperate with family members on abductions of members of different minority religious groups for several years. Although the number of cases decreased in 1990's, abductions and deprogramming of Unification Church members continue to occur.

Other cases

U.S. State Department in its annual 2011 report mentioned a case of 14 Muslims, who filed a lawsuit against the government, when leaked documents showed, that Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the National Police Agency systematically collected their personal data, religious activities and associations, allegedly because of their religion. Case was still ongoing on end of 2011.

Societal abuses and discrimination

See also: Societal abuses and Religious discrimination

Christian employees are widely expected to submit to group norms and work on the Sabbath and/or Christmas Day when asked, despite Japanese employment law.

See also

• Religion in Japan
• Human rights in Japan

References

• United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Japan: International Religious Freedom Report 2007 and Japan: International Religious Freedom Report 2010. This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.