Govt to strengthen measures against spiritual sales tactics

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:16 JST, November 5, 2022

The government intends to strengthen measures against so-called spiritual sales tactics, in response to problems linked to the Unification Church, according to sources.

The government plans to include in its second supplementary budget for fiscal 2022 funding for such measures as providing financial assistance to local governments to combat such tactics, which have been used by the Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, as well as improving services of the National Consumer Affairs Center, the sources said.

Specifically, ¥500 million will be allocated as a special subsidy to fully fund measures by local governments to fight malicious business practices, including spiritual sales tactics that involve preying on people’s fears to cajole them into buying items at exorbitant prices.

The government also intends to extend the search period for information on consultation cases on PIO-NET, an information network linking the National Consumer Affairs Center and local government consumer affairs entities.

Another envisaged measure is to conduct online training for consumer affairs counselors regarding spiritual sales tactics in order to reinforce the consultation system.

To prevent damage from spiritual sales, the government will aim to enhance consumer education by creating educational materials and videos to raise awareness, according to the sources.