is a Japanese

attorney at law Attorney at law or attorney-at-law, usually abbreviated in everyday speech to attorney, is the preferred term for a practising lawyer in certain jurisdictions, including South Africa (for certain lawyers), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Unite ...

who specializes in

consumer affairs Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

, investment frauds and cases involving

religious cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This s ...

s, especially

Aleph Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez . These letter ...

(formerly known as Aum Shinrikyo) and

Unification church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spi ...

. He regularly appears as a commentator on Japanese TV news and current affairs programs.

Career

Kito was born November 21, 1960, in

Ube, Yamaguchi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan on the Seto Inland Sea. As of October 2016, the city has an estimated population of 168,398 and a population density of 590 persons per km2. The total area is . History as a Mu ...

, and is a graduate of

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

and Graduate School of Law and Politics of Osaka University. Kito is a head lawyer of Link Law Office Kito and Partners in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, established in 2001. He is a member of the Consumer Affairs Committee in Japan Federation of Bar Associations. He is the acting executive director of the

National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales The (abbreviated to ) is a non-profit anti-cult association established in May 1987, comprising about 300 lawyers in Japan. It is specialized in providing legal assistance for victims of cult-related frauds, known as in Japan, from religious or ...

aims at providing legal assistance for victims of

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

-related frauds. On 26 August 2022, he became one of the members being elected to the "Spiritual Sales Review Committee" in the

Consumer Affairs Agency The is an administrative agency of the Cabinet Office of Japan responsible for consumer protection established on September 1, 2009. Under the law passed on December 10, 2022, the Consumer Affairs Agency now also has jurisdiction over the issue ...

for providing suggestions to regulate the

Unification Church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spi ...

's predatory fundraising. The committee was established under the order of Digital Minister

Taro Kono is a Japanese politician serving as the Minister of Digital Affairs of Japan since August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he previously served as Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform from 2015 to 2016 and fro ...

as the approval rating of Prime Minister

Fumio Kishida is a Japanese politician serving as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2021. A member of the House of Representatives, he previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017 and ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

continued to plunge due to intense media scrutiny of the ties between his party with the church since the

assassination of Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan and a serving member of the House of Representatives, was assassinated on 8 July 2022 while speaking at a political event outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Whil ...

Predecessor

Before Kito, victims of

and

Aum Shinrikyo , formerly , is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year. The group says tha ...

were represented by

Tsutsumi Sakamoto On November 5, 1989, Tsutsumi Sakamoto (坂本堤 ''Sakamoto Tsutsumi'' April 6, 1956 – November 5, 1989), a lawyer working on a class action lawsuit against Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult in Japan, was murdered, along with his wife Satoko and ...

, who was murdered, together with his family, by several members of Aum Shinrikyo.

Major publications

* ''Mind Control (Risk in our lives)'' (2012, ASCOM)Mind Control (Risk in our lives) (2012, ASCOM) - Info-Cult in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
/ref> * (Iwanami Shinsho Active) (2002) apanese* ''Religious Corporation Act for the 21st Century'' (Asahi News Shop) (1995) apanese

References

External links

*
International Cultic Studies Association profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kito, Masaki Aum Shinrikyo Critics of new religious movements Psychological abuse Osaka University 20th-century Japanese lawyers 1960 births Living people 21st-century Japanese lawyers

Career

Predecessor

Major publications

See also

References

External links