About a Place in the Kinki Region p.31: "An Undercover Report on a Fringe Religious Group" - an article published in the August 2000 issue of a monthly magazine
Do you remember the fringe religious group active in ●●●●● that we reported on back in 1996?
Following the terror attacks committed by a different religious group the year prior, we ran a feature on cults across Japan. We reported on various cult groups, from new religious movements to devil-worshippers, and this was one of them.
To refresh your memory on the article, I'll go over the basic details of the group.
They were founded in 1991, based on a new religion by the name of 'Spiritual Space'. Unlike similar groups, they lack a leader controlling the movement.
But beyond that, they also don't worship a deity or a buddha, so they're not like Buddhism or Shintoism or Christianity either. They worship 'the universe.'
They, the cult's followers, are entirely women.
Despite their facility being located at the foot of Mt. ●●●●●, deep in a remote area where the only nearby structure is a dam, many women come from all over the country to take part. Some even choose to basically live there.
They apparently use yoga and meditation to get in tune with and approach a so-called 'cosmic truth.'
Our independent reporting managed to uncover some particular unsavoury rumours regarding this cult.
They say that there have been a number of suicides among the cult's followers and, in some cases, whole families have taken their own lives.
For our previous article, the editor travelled to the facility himself and attempted to get inside, but security wasn't as lax as he expected and, as a man, he was tossed out the door after a brief introductory interview with a PR lady at the reception desk.
But now, four years later, we've decided to give an undercover investigation another try. We've taken the editors experiences into account, and instead had one of our female writers infiltrate the facility.
Instead of acting as a reporter, she posed as a prospective follower to get inside. Once there, she uncovered some shocking truths about the cult by speaking to other followers. Here's what she found:
I arrived at the nearest train station in the early afternoon. While being driven to the facility by a member of 'Spiritual Space', they gave me a brief rundown of the group.
The members are organised into specific jobs, such as driving, doing public relations work, clerical jobs, and general management.
While there are a few senior members who keep things organised, there's no hierarchy in the group. Rather, they all consider each other to be equals, and refer to everyone with 'san.'
The group's membership numbers fluctuate, but they typically retain a headcount of around thirty to fifty people. Every single one is a woman, some single and some married.
We then arrived at the 'Spiritual Space' facility, which was much larger than I had anticipated.
I would liken it to a small hotel. It had a reception area and a conference hall, alongside bathrooms, a dining hall, and dozens of individual rooms with beds. It looked to be built to accommodate a significant amount of people. A number of the members appeared to be essentially living in the facility.
In the reception area, a public relations representative explained how the group worked. Of course, I already knew most of what she had to say, but I still listened intently—which seemed to make her think I was a promising prospective follower.
I questioned her on membership dues, essentially trying to learn how the cult makes money. Shockingly, she told me there was no minimum due—each member simply pays however much they can afford to, whenever they can afford to. I pressed her on how they were able to maintain such a large facility with those practices, and she explained that a few of their members are fairly wealthy, and their generosity is what allows them to operate as they do. Of course, that's not a very satisfactory explanation but, seeing as I was only a brand new applicant, I imagine there was much they weren't willing to divulge.
A senior member explained the layout of the facility to me, and then brought me to join a large group of followers in the conference hall for a yoga session.
We practiced the usual poses, such as the 'cat pose' and the 'moon pose', but they had a few unique poses of their own—each one involved raising your arms upwards. When I asked one of the other members, they explained that raising your arms upwards allows you to be slightly closer to the sky, helping you to gain power from the universe and open your chakra.
Afterwards, we all meditated. Despite many people being in the conference hall, it was deathly silent. The silence left me feeling quite uneasy. As I meditated alongside the others, I started to feel a headache coming on. Perhaps this was my chakra opening?
The group describes these activities as 'training,' but supposedly each member is free to do yoga and meditation as often as it suits them. Aside from doing the jobs assigned to them, everyone seemed free to do as they please.
Despite being a cult, the very laissez-faire attitude reminded me more of an all-female social club.
As I was given free rein to spend my time however I liked, I took the opportunity to interview a few of the followers while pretending to strike up a casual conversation.
Everyone was exceedingly friendly and seemed to be living by the group's principle of 'a spirit of gratitude will guide you towards the universe'—they began every conversation by exchanging thanks. To be frank, the extreme level of friendliness was quite creepy.
The first follower I spoke with was a woman in her fifties.
She told me that she has a family—a husband and a teenage son. I was curious to know how the cult might be affecting their relationship but, according to her, they're on very good terms. They even support the fact she spends half of each week active at the facility.
The rule seemed to be that, while only women were allowed to join, men are free to assist in proselytising, so her family helped her spread the word.
I have a hard time comprehending why her family would proselytise for her religion when they're excluded from taking part.
I inquired as to what proselytising entails, and was told that it involves handing out pictures and placing them where they're easy to find. I assume that these pictures are a form of advertisement used to recruit new members, as they didn't seem to have anything like a pamphlet to give out. I asked if I could see the pictures, but our conversation was cut short—it was time to clean the facility, which was her job.
Next, I spoke with a younger woman, only twenty years old.
Before I had the chance to ask her anything, she blurted out with a radiant smile:
"I think I'm close to ascending."
I stood there taken aback as she continued. According to her, though the members don't talk about it openly, the group consists of two kinds of followers—those capable of ascending, and those incapable.
I asked her what would happen if one were to ascend, and she explained that you would 'reach the universal truth.'
I pressed further, asking what happened when one reached this truth, but her answers were vague and evasive. All the while, she had a deranged look in her eyes. It honestly scared me quite a bit.
As far as I'd seen, there was nothing in the group's activities that would constitute brainwashing. Furthermore, they weren't placing any restrictions on their members. So how did diehard followers like her get to that point?
Lastly, I spoke to a woman in her forties.
She claimed to have been a member since the group was first formed. She told me her story, about how she'd lost her son, only an elementary-schooler, the year before. Now, she was training to ascend so she could be reunited with him. It appears places like this can serve as a refuge for people who've suffered deep emotional trauma.
She explained to me through tears how she was trying her best to ascend, but simply couldn't manage to reach high enough. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Forgetting that this was all an undercover interview, I tried to console her by telling her that training is fine and all, but she shouldn't be pushing herself to extremes for the sake of seeing her son again.
We weren't able to talk for long before it was dinner time.
Those commuting for the day left to go back home, and everyone staying in the facility met at the dining hall to eat dinner.
Everyone there seemed to be having a good time chatting as they enjoyed their meal.
On the other hand, I found the food difficult to eat—it had no flavour whatsoever.
The followers assigned to cook the meals had prepared something that looked entirely normal but was somehow tasteless. Perhaps it was an issue with the seasoning? However, the other followers looked to be enjoying it. I left most of my plate uneaten.
After dinner, the public relations representative from earlier summoned me back to the reception area to ask whether I still wanted to join.
Of course, for the sake of the investigation, I told her I did.
With a satisfied look on her face, she replied "thank you" and offered me the opportunity to observe a members-only event.
I was brought through the facility to a room.
After entering through a surprisingly heavy set of double doors, I saw a dimly-lit room occupied by a little over ten people.
I can only describe what I saw as bizarre.
In the centre of the room was a wooden platform of some description, and upon that platform was a large stone wrapped in sacred rope.
Four of the members, ink brush in hand, were crouched down around the platform, one on each of its four sides, deeply focused on drawing something on pieces of paper laid on the ground.
I assume this was the pictures the follower from before had referred to. Looking over their shoulders, I could make out that they had drawn an image of something surrounding by 女 in each corner.
The rest of the people in the room circled around the four of them, performing some strange repetitive movement.
They kept jumping up and down with their arms raised upwards.
All the while, they kept chanting some incomprehensible string of sounds.
I recorded what they were saying using a hidden recording device. Here's the transcript:
"Rukiemashiramydojieuzme."
"Meshitagahahaaoemashiraoizumemiochikudo."
"Zogitsumashirafuiehamosumoooe."
"Airuzumesomashiraudzujiemifuoporerutozue."
"Doiishimashiramekoyoiasupiekuso."
"Sueimikurururuemashiraokimunashi."
"Aoiefuzumodzuiseromashiraoaburuiso."
"Chimemifuzuroitetottsusumoitetobunarumashiraikekomiteru."
"Fueoiepushimashira."
"Rimashiratsufuitotominaoioerutsu."
"Mashirashikoeributsuitotemizu."
I stood there in stunned silence for a while, watching this ritual unfold.
I asked the public relations representative, who watched with a smile, if we could step outside so she could explain what was going on.
She explained to me that what I saw is a kind of training to help followers to ascend, and a means to help guide others towards the same.
However, she said that 'Spiritual Space' has no object of worship—the stone is only a tool to assist in this ascension.
She described it as so: the pictures used for proselytising are drawn in close proximity to the stone, which supposedly possesses universal power, so that they can be used to offer salvation to those who see them.
Jumping up and down with your arms raised upwards, like the followers circling the stone were doing, is apparently a means of drawing power from the stone, and followers are told to say whatever sound comes to mind as they do it.
But despite all of that, the sacred rope wrapped around the stone clearly originated right here in Japan—it's a feature of Shinto traditions. When I asked her to explain the rope, all she said was "it's a special stone."
As she went over all of this, I was beginning to feel dizzy.
Not just figuratively, I was physically feeling disoriented.
She didn't seem to find it concerning when I told her I was feeling unwell.
At this point, I was getting a sense of danger, so I excused myself to the restroom and snuck into one of the bedrooms to call the editors for help.
Around the time I heard the approaching sirens of the ambulance they'd called for me, I passed out.
Our intrepid writer was quickly rushed to the nearest hospital for an examination. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be wrong and she was soon dismissed with a clean bill of health. However, not long after submitting the report you've just read, she once again fell ill and is currently hospitalised.
We considered the chance that the cult had drugged the food they served her, so we called the facility to find out. But by the time we called, their phone lines had been taken out of service. Their website was also down.
We had another writer in the Kansai area travel to the facility, but they reported that the building was completely deserted, and they weren't able to find the large stone our writer encountered.
To this day, many dangerous cults lurk throughout Japan.
Each one tries to lure in average people like you and me with a charming smile, but behind that façade is a brainwashing scheme intended to squeeze you for all you're worth. To spread awareness and help prevent future victims, we won't give up in our efforts to expose these shady cults for what they really are.
Translation Notes 25-34
The translation notes are organised by part. Please be careful of spoiling yourself by reading ahead.
This is an amateur translation of the web novel 近畿地方のある場所について as posted to kakuyomu.jp by the author 背筋. The web novel is freely accessible to the public, and this translation has no relation to any other adaptions. I claim no rights or ownership of the content presented.