Obituaries

Ryuho Okawa, Founder of Happy Science Dies at Age 66

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Happy Science Founder Ryuho Ohkawa speaks in Chiyoda-Ward, Tokyo, Dec. 2012.

Jiji Press

17:09 JST, March 2, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Ryuho Okawa, the founder and CEO of the Happy Science religious organization, died at a Tokyo hospital on Thursday at the age of 66.

According to informed sources, Okawa was transported to hospital after he was found in a state of cardiac arrest at his home in the Japanese capital’s Minato Ward in the early hours of Monday.

Known for its massive advertising campaigns including the use of movies and publications, the religious group says it has over 700 related facilities inside and outside of Japan.

According to the religious group’s website and other sources, Okawa was born in Yoshinogawa, Tokushima Prefecture, in 1956.

After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he joined a major trading company.

He left the company in 1986, and then established the religious group. In 2009, he launched the group’s political wing, the Happiness Realization Party.