Current Events > Didn't think this would happen to me but i was lured by cultists in Japan lol

(+) Yeah! (+)

So as some of you know I'm in Japan for holiday atm, going back to London on Saturday. I'll also be working in Japan next year starting March.

Well here's the story. I've been meeting loads of new people and been going out every other day with them. I was alone at Akihabara two days ago at a Gigo crane game area at night. A random guy (won't say his name) came up to me and struck a conversation. We spoke for a while and I agreed to meet him to go out around Ikebukuro.

Fast forward to tonight and I meet him and he has a friend. He introduces him and we go to an Italian restaurant. Everything is fun and all but after we finish eating they both kinda go silent. It was jarring. Then he starts with "so Spiritsephiroth, the reason I asked you to come out is because I want you to pray with us". He then goes on about this religion called "Nichiren Buddism". Red flags started to go off and I instantly kinda smiled (weird reaction, because I've heard of cultists being a thing in Japan) and they insist i follow them to a shrine. As they're explaining it, one of them goes off and I instantly get my phone out and research on reddit, reading a story about a guy being chased in a taxi by these guys.

Then as the friend comes back I decide to read up on the religion in front of them and I confront literally everything about their beliefs to the point where it confuses them. I think it kind of set them back since I was being so confrontational (I was slightly annoyed they wasted my time tbh). At the same time one of my friends calls me and I tell him to call me back after. One of the guys asks who that was and I told him I had friends waiting for me. All this probably scared them off and after they awkwardly walked me to the station and quietly said goodbye.

This was an experience tbh. I'm actually kinda amazed I met actual people like that here. What's more after I realized what they were I started to analyse them more closely. Same haircut, same shoes, same clothes ect.

Scary almost like a horror anime.

WingsOfGood posted...

Scary almost like a horror anime.

It felt like I was in a show lol. Kinda surreal.

Were they hot?

Do you think that they would have tried to use force if you hadn't told them about your friends wanting for you?

I was there last November, luckily didn't run into those guys.

However I was thoroughly harassed by the African street touts in Kabukicho whenever I walked through there at night.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

"Nichiren Buddism"

I'm skimming wikipedia and google and this just seems like "Buddhism with Christian-Fundie energy".

BloodMoon7 posted...

Were they hot?

Eh, average as guys.

Zikten posted...

Do you think that they would have tried to use force if you hadn't told them about your friends wanting for you?

Not sure but I made sure to show them that I wasn't alone and that I wasn't a 'yes' man.

Itachi157 posted...

I was there last November, luckily didn't run into those guys.

However I was thoroughly harassed by the African street touts in Kabukicho whenever I walked through there at night.

That happened to me back in 2019. Weirdly enough that wasn't as jarring as this experience.

Kim_Seong-a posted...

I'm skimming wikipedia and google and this just seems like "Buddhism with Christian-Fundie energy".

Yup. From my quick research whilst I was talking to them the religion was controversial, and the other buddist sects did NOT like them to the point where they tried to execute their leader.

This is like a Yakuza substory

SpiritSephiroth posted...

"Nichiren Buddism"

Honestly it could have been way worse.

Could have been Aum Shinrikyo. Those fuckers actually kill people.

I live in Japan and before Covid, there used to be this guy who stood on the street corner every Saturday, trying to get young, mostly foreign kids, to join his church.

He eventually recognized me as one of the only non-Asians, and kind of got my attention. Typical Jesus stuff. Then he pulled out weird artwork of his church which looked like suspiciously traced over Syar Wars art. Then he asked me, on a scale of 1 to 100, how strongly do you believe the Earth is round.

Flat Earth cultist.

Every time i saw him after that, I would wait at the red light. If i ever saw him trying to communicate with a kid, Id do the batsu gesture and hope they would leave him.

Havent seen him in years thankfully, but i cant forget that guy.

History of nationalism, strong focus on proselytizing

yup, cult.

> going on vacation
> going out with new random strangers
> alone
> in foreign country

hmmmmm

AwesomoSauce posted...

> going on vacation
> going out with new random strangers
> alone
> in foreign country

hmmmmm

Seems like tc speaks the language and knows the lay of the land. Though it does still seem risky.

AwesomoSauce posted...

> going on vacation
> going out with new random strangers
> alone
> in foreign country

hmmmmm

Guide posted...

Seems like tc speaks the language and knows the lay of the land. Though it does still seem risky.

You're right on both counts. But it still is risky I agree. Anything can happen even in Japan.

Kim_Seong-a posted...

I'm skimming wikipedia and google and this just seems like "Buddhism with Christian-Fundie energy".

Religious fundamentalism exists in every religion. There are frigging Hindu nationalists who invite hate crimes against Indian Muslims.

Yeah, I've heard stories about these people, like they demand a pizza boy remove his shoes and then they'll have someone take the shoes and hide them while they try to convert him. Meanwhile, he's just wanting to get paid and get out of there so he doesn't get in trouble with his boss.

There's one called Sokka Gokai (SGI) that I believe is either the same group as this or very similar. I used to practice Buddhism and hang out with other Buddhists and everybody, whether they were Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, whatever, agreed that this isn't Buddhism. It's all about chanting the "nam myoho renge kyo," not as a mindfulness practice, but as a belief that it will work as a magic spell to bring a mansion, new car, etc. That doesn't help you overcome materialistic attachment, it does the opposite.

Why did you think that random strangers asking you to go out with them was anything other than bizarre? Just because you were in Japan? A country (rightly or wrongly) notorious for oddball subcultures?

Edit: I hadn't even read the full thing but I have now. Glad you called them out

When I lived in South Korea literally every time a random Korean stranger would start talking to me, after a couple minutes they'd reveal that they were Jehovah's Witnesses or some other Christian cult and just wanted to "talk about Jesus." Koreans are pretty shy and clubby and stick to their own in-groups like their family and co-workers, and aren't really outgoing to total strangers, especially foreigners, and I imagine the Japanese might be similar.

kurdt032 posted...

Why did you think that random strangers asking you to go out with them was anything other than bizarre? Just because you were in Japan? A country (rightly or wrongly) notorious for oddball subcultures?

Edit: I hadn't even read the full thing but I have now. Glad you called them out

cuz Japan is a happy nerd paradise filled with gamers and anime fans!

kurdt032 posted...

Why did you think that random strangers asking you to go out with them was anything other than bizarre? Just because you were in Japan? A country (rightly or wrongly) notorious for oddball subcultures?

Edit: I hadn't even read the full thing but I have now. Glad you called them out

Because I've met tons of people like that who are cool asf.

I even know a girl since 2019 by randomly coming across her in an arcade.