The Words of the Fujita Family
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The Words of the Fujita Family |
On July 11, 2010 a special memorial service, known as a "Seunghwa," was held to honor Ms. Takako Fujita who tragically committed suicide during the fourth month of forced-conversion captivity in 1997.
The presiding minister at the event was Rev. Gentaro Kajikuri, President of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Japan, and was conducted at its headquarters' hall packed with more than two hundred church members and leaders of affiliated organizations.
The ceremony was transmitted via internet across Japan and more than 20,000 church members at about 300 local churches attended online.
HSA-UWC World President Hyung Jin Moon presented his calligraphic writing, which may translate into 'Holy and Filial Character Moves Heaven'.
According to Unification Church officials in Japan, Ms. Fujita was 27 years old and had already joined her new husband, a Korean, at his residence in South Korea, following the marriage blessing ceremony. The church officials complained to a Japanese Minister of Police at the time of her death that the coercive circumstances of her confinement likely contributed to her suicide, but police refused to investigate a crime and treated the matter as a "simple suicide," according to Mr. Mamoru Kamono, director of public relations for the Unification Church in Japan.
Rev. Kajikuri explained to the gathering: "In her isolation, without hope of rescue, Takako Fujita could not resist all the abuses bombarded on her. She must have endured with one thought, to demonstrate her accusation, and her protest to those who had carried out her abduction and confinement even by sacrificing her own life, her last and the only resort under duress. It was her greatest but most sacrificial undertaking, implying the horrible circumstances she had to undergo."
"Her fate stirs our determination to carry on our protests against those who persecute our members behind closed doors," he added.
Unification Church records show that Ms. Fujita was born in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, on July 5th 1970. After graduating from a local high school, she went to Kacho College, Kyoto, to study social welfare. In May 1989, soon after the enrollment to the college, she was introduced to the Unification Church. Ms. Fujita became a member of the church on June 11, 1989.
While studying at the college, she was engaged in church activities out of the apartment rented by her parents. After graduating from the college, she got a job at the Fushimi Gakuen, Kyoto, a welfare institution for the physically disabled as an instructor for vocational training.
On August 25, 1995, Ms. Fujita was married to Mr. Lee, a Korean man, at the International Marriage Blessing Ceremony of the Unification Church. According to Mr. Kamono, a photo of Ms. Fujita and Mr. Lee at the ceremony shows a shy but happy couple. After the Blessing, Ms. Fujita devoted more time to the church activities. In December 1996, she moved to South Korea to join Mr. Lee.
The situation took a sudden, tragic turn when she made a homecoming visit to her parents' house on March 8, 1997. According to a Unification Church member well acquainted with Ms. Fujita, she was looking forward to seeing her parents, expecting their appreciation and support for her marriage. To her surprise, she was kidnapped at her parents' house.
When Mr. Lee called her parents' home, its answering machine picked up his call in the evening of March 9, 1997. He reportedly said that "They must have gone for a family outing. She will be back on March 10th anyway." Ms. Fujita's friends found the working place of her father and made a phone call. The person who picked up the phone said that he was on a long vacation. A close friend of Mr. Fujita found out that a co-worker of her father heard him saying that he was taking a leave to bring his daughter out of the Unification Church. At this point it was clear that her disappearance was due to religious kidnapping and confinement.
On March 15, 1997, Mr. Lee came to Japan to try and find his wife. He first visited the home of her parents together with Ms. Fujita's best friend. But Ms. Fujita's grandmother would not tell them anything. So, they went to the police, who gave them little cooperation. Mr. Lee stayed in Japan for ten days, but having failed to come up with any leads, returned to Korea in despair, according to Mr. Kamono.
Mr. Lee returned to Japan on May 21. 1997. This time, accompanied by Ms. Fujita's church leader, he headed for Kansai, the region west of Tokyo, where his wife was believed to be confined. They visited her relatives and the South Korean Consulate in Kobe. They were told that the case was beyond the consular jurisdiction because the missing person's nationality was Japanese.
Once again, they had to go the Niihama Police, who said that since the missing person had lived in South Korea before her disappearance, they were advised to ask South Korean police to search for her. Mr. Lee persisted in searching for the whereabouts of Ms. Fujita's father. The police only made a phone call to his working place. On May 24th, having failed to come up with any new clues, Mr. Lee had to go back to South Korea in frustration.
Only on July 15, 1997, church friends of Ms. Fujita learned that her funeral had been held on July 14. The young woman who had sponsored Mr. Fujita's entry into the church hurried to the house of Mr Fujita's parents. She later told friends that she "felt as though her heart was being torn apart when she saw Ms. Fujita's funeral portrait surrounded by flowers."
Ms. Fujita's family members explained that she had died of a brain clot on the morning of July 13th. However, it sounded a bit far- fetched that a young woman in her twenties would die of a brain clot. When the friend inquired with the funeral home, one person spoke up: "I am not supposed to say this to people other than her family, but she seems to have committed suicide."
The Unification Church Headquarters called the police for information. They revealed that Ms. Fujita attempted suicide in the morning of July 12th in a bathroom in an apartment room in Kyoto where she was confined. She was rushed by ambulance to the Nishijin Hospital in Kyoto but pronounced dead in early morning of July 13, 1997. The name of a Christian minister involved in the case was also revealed.
Since 1966, more than 4,300 Unification Church members in Japan have suffered kidnapping and forced conversion efforts. Japanese government prosecutors have investigated few of the cases, and no criminal indictments have resulted.
The following link to the Wakayama Church website (uc- wakayama.org/archives/969) is where messages for Ms Fujita can be left.