Recently, I got invited to a party by a Japanese woman here in Tokyo via a language exchange application. The party was advertised to be about learning Japanese and having fun together, nothing else.
At first, everything seemed as advertised. We are all just relaxing together, eating snacks and talking.
One person there started to talk about some religion she was into and that she had joined recently, and I was of course happy for her being happy about it.
It seemed the girl who invited me were friends with this other person, and that they shared the same University, and religion. But they didn’t talk so much about it, just meantioned it.
Someone wanted us to have a group photo so we formed up and got our photo taken. Almost instantly after the photo was taken, a man in a suit rolled up and wanted everyones attention. He advertised that the event was organized by ”Happy Science” and that we should join their newsletter. I never heard that name before and just thought it is a group doing things like this, but I had a weird vibe so I kinda started thinking ”wait, maybe this is actually a cult, and this is a recruiting party”.
Edit: right after the photo and the mans speech I noped out of there.
Sure enough, after some research it became apparent it is in fact a cult.
I don’t mind that it exists or anything, nor do I care about what they are doing within themselves, but I did feel a bit bummed out about the fact that I got invited to something advertised as just a party for meeting up and learning Japanese, when the goal of the event was to recruit people to a cult.
Have any of you experienced anything similar?
36 comments
Lol stay the FUCK away from Happy Science.
100% cult, brainwashing, UFOs, anti-vax (during corona they had some “prayer” for 30k yen to protect you), just bullshit all around.
Ghost that female and block her everywhere.
Anytime there’s someone who’s too eager to meet you or invite you to some kinda gathering, its either a cult or a MLM.
I had an elderly lady try to get me to go worship Buddha with her a few weeks ago.
Cults use peoples’ weaknesses to attract new members. The young and easily impressionable, the mentally unstable, foreigners who have not yet found their feet, the lonely – you name it. It’s just their trickery to pull you in. Nothing new, they’ve been doing this forever.
No matter who they are, happy science, Christian science, scientology, SGI, catholics, everyone is playing the same game.
Whatever you do, just mind your own decisions and make sure, your decisions stay your own.
Good luck!
>It seemed the girl who invited me were friends with this other person, and that they shared the same University, and religion.
Did you happen to get the name of the university?
Be careful, their leader and founder recently snuffed it.
This can be a difficult time for an insane death cult. Purges and lethal self-criticism may take place.
Pro-Tip: Run away!
Ask her if she does 枕営業, otherwise block her.
Fuck cults in general, promises of fame and fortune are usually just filling the pockets of a few people don’t give two shits about the people who actually do the dirty laundry.
No, noone has ever experienced anything similar like:
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/106h2tu/whats_your_cult_encounter_story/
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/c8y1cn/%E5%B9%B8%E7%A6%8F%E5%AD%A6%E7%A7%91_happy_science_wikipedia_says_theyre_a_cult/
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/orddkn/did_anyone_was_approached_by_someone_like_this/
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/hoougo/psa_beware_of_scouts_posing_as_friends_in_public/
etc. etc. etc.
Although this one is a bit different – normally they send an attractive young lady on what you assume is a date only to be met by several people and hard sold that you would be Happier with Science! Sounds like they’re wizening up to people bolting the second their “date” turns into a group affair and just skipping straight to the group affair.
I had Jehovah witnesses constantly knocking on my door during COVID. I’m pretty sure they get gaikokujin addresses through some shady practices because they never bothered other people in my neighborhood.
As someone else said, if someone out of nowhere seems inexplicably excited to invite you to something there is always a catch.
Yes, it’s a very common tactic for cults and MLMs.
This happens all the time. Had a coworker come in with a flyer she got somewhere telling us she’d been invited to go worship Mt. Fuji or some shit. Took a look at it and it was Soka Gakkai. Even after I warned her not to go, she was still humming and hawing over it cause it looked harmless, though I don’t think she did in the end, thank goodness. There must be some guidance somewhere telling them to target vulnerable-looking foreigners.
Y’all have lived blessed lives if an attractive Japanese woman invited you to an activity and you thought there was even a 1% chance that it wasn’t fraud.
Avoid the cult like the plague,
But DO by all means watch the anime OVAs they commissioned.
They are batshit insanity and will improve both your day and the day of every drunk friend you convince to watch it with.
There are 2 of their temples near me and it is most definitely a cult. I’ve been flagged down while riding by the temples more than once.
Which app?
If you join Happy Science they’ll teach you how to channel ghosts and shit like that. I also heard that they had some openings in their upper management recently (RIP El Cantare) so there is definitely room for advancement. It might be a good opportunity. /S
I’ve been involved in a number of cults both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower but you make more money as a leader. Just know when it’s time to get out!
They offered me a job !
Yeah, I’ve once duped into thinking I was getting a new friend when some girl was actually trying to recruit me into her cult (hers was “[Ma-Hikari](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahikari)”) back when I was still a student. She was a friend (acquaintance? Idk) of one of my roommates in my school dorm, we started from going to the movies in a group at first. However since most of my roommates were exchange students staying in Japan for only a year or less while I was stuck as a grad student, I think she started targeting me? Idk. It took me longer than I’d like to admit to realize she was trying to slowly recruit me into her cult, even after she introduced me to her parents and told me about how they raised her in their “religion”. I mean, I’m open to differences and all (I’m not irreligious myself). Only after she took me to their place of worship in our city a couple of times, I had my then-boyfriend (now-husband) strongly advising me to stay away from her.
I had a woman approach me in Takadanobaba Station and show me a bunch of group pictures of foreign people at parties and asked me if I’d be interested in going to something like that. I just gave her a firm いいえ and walked away because I’d heard stories like yours before.
Aaw man. I was hoping you were going to say Falun Gong. I saw them when I was in Tokyo recently. Had not seen them in decades! In the mid-90s, they would do these demonstrations in NYC that were part protest, part performance art.
Yes. Not in Tokyo but they advertised it as “culture exchange” event and the what you stated is so similar to what I experienced last time!
I don’t think mine is called “Happy Science” and I don’t bother to learn what cult is it about.
Any potential dates ?
” I don’t mind that it exists or anything” you should MIND about cults, they are a fucking scam stay the FUCK away
Please, report them to the app you found them in for false advertising and cult recruiting.
Don’t worry about “Happy Science”: their god kicked the bucket a few month ago.
How was the Japanese practice though? If you can hold steadfast against their attempts to recruit you, take your money, etc. you can probably gain a shit tonne speaking and listening practice from interacting with people who really, really, want to talk to you and for you to understand. Because they’re bat shit insane you’ll probably learn all sorts of weird vocab.
There’s this guy that always comes by our place trying to us to sign up for a weekly grocery box delivery thing. I showed just a tiny bit of interest and I’ve found out interactions some of the most productive Japanese practice sessions I’ve ever had
One of my former private lesson students is a member! Very nice lady, always tried to give me literature and I always refused it and other invitations. Sorry that happened to ya!
I called out a local Mormon for advertising (in Japanese) free language classes without mentioning the church connection and she immediately erased her religious info from her public profile. I was nice about it, too, just said ‘offering free language classes is a great thing, but if there is a religious component you should mention that ahead of time.’
I’ve had it happen lots of times, if not for religion then for Amway and other scams. You absolutely gotta stand your ground about not joining, not giving money, and not getting in a car with them to get taken to a temple/whatever. And then just never talk to those people again
Funny how you use the imperial “we”.
Yup. Mine was forever ago now. At any rate, my sympathies. They know they’ve got a way in with people who are feeling alone and wanting to connect. It makes it difficult to connect if you’re worrying this person is trying to convert you.
Yeah, just make sure you cut all ties with this woman. No matter what you say, she’ll turn every encounter from now on into a pitch for why this cult is so fabulous to be a part of.
> Almost instantly after the photo was taken, a man in a suit rolled up and wanted everyones attention
I can’t help but imagine how a man in a suit suddenly popped out from under the table and make a speech. LOL.
Oh I remember Happy Science.
I worked at an Eikaiwa during University and a nice gal in her 20s came for a trial lesson. Doing the normal back and forth to gauge her English, I’d asked “Why do you want to study English?”
She said “I want the whole world to know about what my religion is and what we can do for everyone. Happy Science is here for us all.”
I did my due course and was polite until she left, but afterwards raised a flag saying we probably should be cautious if she comes back. She ended up not coming back and I was relieved. It was a privately owned Eikaiwa and we already had our one wack job. I don’t think I could handle two or three.