Hey guys,
While I was on my way out to grab groceries, three women snagged me on the street right outside my apartment, striking up a chat. I’ve been here in Japan for less than a month and assumed these people lived nearby. Started off cool for practicing my Japanese, but then they whipped out a pamphlet, pushing me to join some prayer thing. I tried saying I’m busy, but they’re insisting and now they know where I live. How do I politely tell them to back off? (I’m assuming they will come next time). My Japanese is only at N4 level, so that’s not helping. Also, they started ringing other doors, and I don’t want to be that clueless foreigner who brought them to the building. Any suggestions?
Edit: Thank you everyone that commented. I will not interact with them whatsoever and just go my way.
35 comments
What would you do if a cult tried to recruit you in your home country?
You were not approached by people practicing Buddhism. You were approached by poor idiotic deranged cultists.
That’s some cult
Please ignore them. Pretend they don’t exist the next time you see them. It is the only way.
It’s a 新宗教. A cult. They get magic salvation points if they drag someone new to one of their meetings. Maybe they even have a quota to fill and need X amount of people to sign up. It could well be that they purposefully targeted you as a foreigner, because they thought they could talk you into going along / signing something. Or it’s just random and they just try with everybody that they come across.
Either way, a) your Japanese is not up to the task of discussing recruitment practices, indoctrination, deprogramming and the dubious meaningfulness of acts of religious worship if you don’t understand the doctrine with them and b) they wouldn’t react well to that even if you did. So just do what everybody does. Ignore them. If they keep talking at you, just hold up your hand and repeat “daijoubu desu” and say nothing else and walk away. No good can come from engaging with them.
You can’t prevent them from showing up at your place and talking at you when you step outside (short of doing a whole legal song and dance and getting a restraining order and all that), so you just gotta grey rock them. You’re not being rude. Don’t feel bad for it. Just straight up ignore them.
I think your mistake here is trying to find a way to politely tell them to back off.
Don’t make an excuse like you are busy, just say “no, I’m not interested”. If they don’t back off a firm “fuck off” in English should do the job. These people don’t understand politeness, they see it as an opening/opportunity.
politely? they’ll never stop
いらない、じゃまするな
say this with a rude voice then walk away. you’re free 😅👌
Since you’re new and vulnerable to being tricked, let me add an additional warning: do not open your door to anyone you’re not expecting (delivery guy etc). Look up the “NHK man” and never open the door. And obviously don’t follow anyone at night asking if you want to meet girls at their bar.
> I don’t want to be that clueless foreigner who brought them to the building.
​
They were going to hit up your building regardless. They’re like locusts.
ignore and walk away. if they follow walk into police station. they wont follow you there.
Call the police if they try to do something again, know a guy who has this problem, he gets constant visits from this type of woman, and he usually ignores their door rings, they did try to unlock the door and to unlock the windows but luckily he had locked them already.
Be safe.
“Hey if you dont fuck off i will call the cops for trespassing onegaishimasu”
Not sure where you’re from, but this has been happening quite a bit in Yokohama recently. They’re getting deceptive about it too. My friend met a guy through a dating app and when he showed up, the guy was accompanied by a fellow cultist. The two of them spent the entire time trying to convert him and deliberately chose the cafe location so it was close to their headquarters.
Don’t talk back, ignore and walk away.
Ah… The Mt. Fuji Buddhists I presume?
They’re cultists. I’ve seen them a few times now. One time I even debated them until by friend closed the window. Just ignore them or kindly tell them to fuck off
まにあっています。
Buddhism is not a proselytizing religion. Some of the cults in Japan are based on Buddhism but their theology and practices are not in line with Buddhist teachings.
Oh watch out there’s heaps of this kind of stuff in Japan (and Korea). Super rich too these cult leaders. Read about the Abe thing
4pは初めてなんですが、お手柔らかにお願いします！
(But don’t take of your pants until you’re inside.)
This is what you do. Practice your “I don’t understand what you’re saying” face. When someone talks to you on the street, give them that face.
Talking to people on the street is weird ass behavior in Japan. Look at how Japanese people react to this kind of behavior. You’ll see people pretend not to hear someone and keep walking. That’s because talking to strangers on the street is red flag behavior.
Do as the Romans do. Don’t talk to strangers on the street.
Nichiren Daishonen. Or the crazy cult people as I like to call them. A firm no, leave me alone, go away, or fuck off tends to do the trick
A Japanese person would rather die than approach a foreigner on their own will. Any time someone who isn’t a service worker approaches you in Japan it’s because they want something from you. Just ignore and keep going.
I either A) don’t acknowledge them, B) “thanks, no thanks”, or if I’m really bored C) out crazy them and see how far they’ll come along.
This also works for LinkedIn recruiters and salesmen.
If you are ever approached again, tell them FIRMLY that you are a devout Christian (or other religion) and you are not interested. If they come to your door don’t open it, or at least talk through the door with the latch/chain on.
And as everyone else is saying they are a cult calling themselves a Buddhist sect.
These comments indicate quite clearly that most in this sub couldn’t talk their way out of anything here.
I’ve talked to these people. You can tell them you’re busy, they’ll ask to come later, then tell them you’re not interested politely and they’ll move on. You don’t have to turn every interaction you have into a fight like these comments are trying to make you do.
Repeatedly ask them if it’s a sex cult. Ignore everything else they say, and just keep asking about orgies and the like. Either they’ll say it is or they will finally leave you alone.
The cults will want a monthly payment and if you ever want to leave they will demand a payment to allow you to leave.
It’s a giant scam.
Your Japanese? Dude… use your English. You don’t need to explain anything, you just need to convince them you’re not worth their time. Speaking a language they likely can’t converse in will do that.
These proselytisers are not practicing a normal Buddhism, it’s a cult.
Suggestion: treat them the way you would treat cultists back home.
Were they middle-aged-to-old women? If so, I’d say there’s a 99% chance they were Sokagakkai. Annoying but harmless—think Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In general, they approach you because they want to get you into the cult and get you to vote for whatever candidate they’re pushing. Telling them 「外国籍なので選挙権がない」(“I’m foreign, so I can’t vote”) will usually make them go away and isn’t even a lie.
But in the 1% case it’s some other, crazier cult, you *really* don’t want to interact with them in any way shape or form. You remember why Abe died, right?
Just say you’re busy (すみません、忙しいです), even mid-conversation, and leave. They usually catch the drift. If they start pestering you, threaten to call the police (警察呼びます). Should be possible even at N4 level. If that doesn’t make them go away, punch them in the solar plexus. This should also possible even at N4 level.
Jehovah Witnesses lurk in Japan too and come in the form of old ladies.
This is either jehovahs witnesses or sokogakkai international (its like Mormon, bhuddism, and scientology got together and had a baby). I’m Mormon, served a mission in Japan, that’s not our tact. They’d break out English and be young, with black name tags.
fucking cultists
Ask them to join your (made up) MLM, see who gives up first.
(this is a joke)
Yeah I used to get door knocker who wouldn’t accept polite nudges to leave. I ended up having to shut the door in their faces twice before they got the hint. “Sorry I’m a Christian.” Still won’t go. “Sorry I need to go do something.” “Oh, what do you need to do?” . Thank you but no, goodbye. *closes door on their protesting at my goodbye*