Memories That Remain Even When Names Are Forgotten—People of the Arakawa Branch of the Former Unification Church
I was a member of the former Unification Church for about six years in my 20s.
The six years I was a member.
As for Yamamoto-san, my spiritual parent who approached me on the street, she married into a family in Korea, but did she do anything for me as a parent? Not at all.
There was no one from my spiritual lineage at the Arakawa branch either, and I felt completely alone. Perhaps it was just a spiritual lineage that wasn't very good at taking care of people.
The person I trusted most during those six years was a mother figure called Mother Inagaki.
I've forgotten her full name, but she was my mother figure when I was in the 1st Youth Department, which was on the front lines of street missionary work.
I think she was about 10 years older than me.
She was a truly loving person. She was strict at times and kind at others. She was someone I could talk to without feeling pressured.
She had joined the church.
After I joined the 1st Youth Department, we spent about a year—or maybe a little longer—together.
Even when the captain was transferred, Mother Inagaki was never transferred from the 1st Youth Department.
I think that shows how much trust was placed in her.
Mother Inagaki apparently faced strong opposition when she told her family about the former Unification Church, but she managed to persuade them and gain their understanding.
During the six years I was there, no members were taken back by their families, but I heard that a little before that, some were taken back after telling their parents.
Mother Inagaki was matched with a Korean person at the joint wedding ceremony,
and she would say,
“I get along well with my partner and their family.”
After that, she married into a family in Korea. By the way, marrying into a family in Korea is called “Wakan” (going to Korea).
There was one other mother figure who left an impression on me.
I've forgotten her name, but she was a mother in the 1st Youth Department. Originally, she was a mother in the department for correspondence education.
She had three children, and I believe the third was still a nursing infant.
During street missionary work, the mothers often acted as teachers for the people they brought in from the street.
She was someone who was always smiling.
Her husband, her partner from the joint wedding ceremony, was critical of the Arakawa branch's church activities,
and it was said that
“he doesn't really attend services.”
I think her husband worked in electrical engineering. I met him a few times, and my impression was that he was a devoted father.
Mother Ozawa. She was a team leader during Mother Inagaki's time, and I met her in the 1st Youth Department. There was also a time when she served as the captain of the 1st Youth Department.
She had a very strong sense of justice. I think she practiced judo or something similar.
I think she struggled with the Korean person she was matched with at the joint wedding ceremony. Eventually, she married into a family in Korea.
There were many other women called mothers, but many were immature, and I wonder if their faith was really that deep? Thinking back now, perhaps because women were leaving for Korea, they started having people without the necessary capacity take on the mother role due to generational turnover.
As for the men...
Lecturer Abe (Captain). I was under his care during the communal living after the four-day seminar and in the 1st Youth Department.
He was an interesting speaker and had the power to attract people. He felt like an uncle from the downtown area. His match at the joint wedding ceremony was a Japanese person, and I believe they had two children. I never met his wife.
Captain Goto. He was a captain I found a bit scary, so I couldn't speak my true feelings to him. I was under his care as captain of the 1st Youth Department. The period wasn't that long.
He was a very quiet person.
I believe his match at the joint wedding ceremony was a Korean person who hadn't come to Japan yet. So I think he had joined the church.
There was one other captain, but I've forgotten his name.
He was the person I interacted with the longest as a captain during those six years. (The fact that I forgot his name suggests I really don't want to remember him.) I was under his care in the department where I started my practice and in the 1st Youth Department.
His wife also often came to services, and I was allowed to help take care of the second-generation believers. He had piercing eyes. I felt like he could see right through me.
He was the captain of the 1st Youth Department when I left.
Branch Manager Shibuya. A former chef. He was a bit chubby. I think he was a little scary.
Everyone often said,
“He's in poor health,”
but I wonder about that!
He often talked about how he “was assigned to the Arakawa branch and wiped out the corrupt 1st Youth Department.”
Maybe he had that physique because he worked late into the night and binged on food.
He had two children, and his wife was an advisor for jewelry exhibitions who traveled all over the country.
By the way, sewer rats often appeared in the 1st Youth Department dormitory. The rats were smart, too; they wouldn't get caught just by placing a mousetrap, but they would get caught if you put bread and a mousetrap inside a cardboard box.
And then there were the brothers and sisters.
I've forgotten most of their names, but...
Sugiyama-san, we spent time together in the 1st Youth Department. We also did the 7-day fast at the same time. I thought she might be dedicating herself when she participated in collecting donations for the Makuiro bus, but she moved to the correspondence education department. I don't know what happened to her after that.
Arakawa-san, she was a nurse. We were together from the first department where we lived communally until the 1st Youth Department. She eventually dedicated herself and became a mother in some department.
Sasu-san, she was a pharmacist. I met her in the 1st Youth Department. Our lockers were close, and we were good friends. We went to the public bath together; that was fun.
She dedicated herself and worked as a team leader, but before I quit, she was a counselor at a self-improvement department in Nishi-Nippori. I think she was matched with a Korean person at the joint wedding ceremony.
Wada-san, I met her in the 1st Youth Department. I think she worked at Shiseido. She was in the cosmetics product development department.
Her work stories were interesting. Testing the effectiveness of sunscreen by applying different ones to each half of her face and exposing them to sunlight for hours, or applying different lipsticks to the left and right sides—it was a new world to me, as I only knew the medical world.
I think she dedicated herself and went to some department. I believe Wada-san's match at the joint wedding ceremony was a Japanese person.
My spiritual children...
Satomi-chan, she left the church around the same time I did. We exchange New Year's cards now.
Kyoko-chan, I happened to run into her at the station near my workplace a few years ago. She is still connected to the church. It seems she doesn't do missionary work and is just in a place where she attends services.
She told me,
“I want you to come back.”
She was a child with a complicated family situation, and it seemed she was now suffering from mental illness and taking medication. I know her contact information, but I've cut off contact because she tries to recruit me.
There was one other spiritual child, but I've forgotten her name. She has also left the church.
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