(Japan)
Since June of this year, the Japanese weekly magazine ShUkan bunshun has issued a continuing series of scandal-reports regarding the religious group known in Japan as Family of Love (Ai no Kazoku). Formerly known as the "Children of God," the group originated in the United States and began proselytizing activities in Japan in the early 1970s, chiefly among younger Japanese. The group established several colonies in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya and other major Japanese cities. Few people showed recognition of the group at that time, however, and most apparently believed thought that the group had ceased its activities in Japan.
The Shukan bunshun' s reports have alleged that members of the group have engaged in sex with children; that they have isolated and detained individuals in activities tantamount to to kidnapping, and engaging in recruiting activities through the use of deceptive seduction activities known as "flirty fishing." Many television stations have followed up on the reporting by the Shukan bunshun, presenting interviews with a French doctor who claimed his son and family had been kidnapped by the group; the doctor's claims were in turn denied in televised interviews with his son, who came to Japan from France in order to rebut his father's comments. The group is continuing their activities while the incident proceeds.