Japan's Strangest Cult? | False Gods

From Margaret Thatcher seances to promising to eliminate North Korea, Happy Science is a controversial new religious movement with over 12 million members in 90 countries.

Led by its charismatic leader, Ryuho Okawa, the group’s followers believe he is a divine being, but others have accused him of leading a cult.

We hear from journalists who have been investigating the group to try and get to the bottom of it.

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[DarthFurie]

I'm literally in tears over how when he was pretending to be a former BRITISH Prime Minister he literally was not even speaking in fluent English lmao

[liveforone]

Imagine working in a cubicle next to Okawa on the day he "realized" he's God.

[cubezapper]

Respect to the son for standing up to his dad, a literal cult leader

[warbledurbler]

Margaret Thatcher's knowledge of the English language has really decreased since her death.

[pkre]

That was the least charismatic cult leader I think I’ve ever seen.

[誰も知らない-ff]

Dude my uncle is in Happy Science. I have so many stories. One time my uncle gifted me a book for my birthday, and it was a transcript of Okawa doing a "spiritual interview" with Michael Jackson, where Jackson's "spirit" admitted he molested kids and explained why he did it, but also talked about music and hanging out with famous composers and dead celebrities in heaven. The book hasn't been translated into English and I hope it never does. I was so fuckin mad.

[Petruskinhap]

Im a nurse and on admission I have to ask patients if they follow any religions. An Asian patient told me her religion was Happy Science. I had never heard of it, the daughter explained it was about love and friendship and it sounded sp nice. Kinda mind blown to see it is a cult Learning something new with Vice.

[elliefugerer]

They're saying Satan is a furry. I'm fucking dead.

[Clo_Dub]

“After he realised he was literally God”.

Ugh, don’t you just hate it when that happens

[Shazzyhtown]

Sounds like a Japanese version of Scientology doesn't it? The whole "parting with your money" and "ranks" thing. Totally Church of Scientology. All they need is Xenu, the Intergalactic War Lord.

[Enlightize]

Hey! That's me in the video! Thank you VICE for interviewing me. Happy Science was definitely an experience I"ll never forget.

[GM-itrj]

I’ve studied world religions and cults my entire life. And I was already familiar with Happy Science. But the intergalactic cat Satan that disguises himself as a Furry was a new one to me. As of yet, I’ve not been able to substantiate that assertion anywhere else on the internet. Has anybody else found an outside source to verify this claim? If so, I would be immensely grateful to anyone who could provide a link to that information.

[TheErikjsm]

That margret thatcher impression was hilarious i will atleast give him that

[emperorpingusmathchannel]

That animation quality on their animes is suprisingly impressive

[erinnicole]

"Satan is a furry when on earth" is probably the only true thing that man has ever said.

[kaligula]

South Park scripts write themselves these days

[washqz]

Ryuho Okawa is ripe for the meme-ing. Especially him saying “hot iron and “Dennis! Dennis!” 😆

[Mly_aaa]

It killed me that Obama was included in seances💀💀💀like man jus bc he ain’t president anymore don’t mean he’s dead 😂😂😂he’s probably jet skiing somewhere w Michelle

[ainsleyharriott]

After seeing Thatcher’s spirit exude from the man’s body I’m convinced this is 100% legit.

[cutezr]

Don't drink or eat while watching this, I did that mistake and now I have soda coming out of my nose. I completely lost it at the anime part.