6. Mr. Fumio Sawada
Eighth Holder of the Secrets of Yu-Itsu Shinto

Mr. Sawada is one of Japan’s foremost authorities on religion and a former director of the Sophis University. Mr. Sawada, as an Asian scholar and a leader of the oldest religion in Japan, brought a unique perspective to the analysis of Scientology. He approached his task from the standpoint of the Japanese definition of religion, which is “to teach the origin, teach the source of the origin.” In addition to satisfying this test, to be recognized as a religion in Japan the religious organization must also “disseminate the teachings, perform religious ceremonies, and train parishioners.” Mr. Sawada unequivocally concluded that “Scientology does all these things.” As he went on to note, “Japan is a country where religions place an accent on the raising of one’s spiritual ability. From a Japanese point of view, Scientology is indeed a similar religion to others already here. ... It has more similarities to Japanese religions than Western religions, and for this reason it may be misunderstood in the West for not being similar to other mainstream religions.”