This document presents legal proof of the validity of the one and only organization inheriting the spiritual line of Koutama Okada, founder of the World Divine Light Organization (Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan). This is the only organization officially and legally sanctioned to use the Mahikari name and the symbol known as Goshinmon appearing below. -- From documents on record in Tokyo District Court.
Dissatisfied with the ruling rendered by the Tokyo District Court on February 24, 1977, which found that the Reverend Sakae Sekiguchi was the Second Oshienushi of Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan, Ms. Keiju (Kouko) Okada filed an "appeal" with the Tokyo High Court. However, in January 1982, as the time for the ruling on this case at last drew near, Keiju Okada filed a petition with the court for "settlement arbitration." The presiding judge responded with a settlement recommendation proposal, with Keiju Okada accepting this proposal in full. This led to the settlement on July 10, 1982.
According to the stipulations of this settlement recommendation proposal, Keiju Okada personally recognized at the court that the Second Oshienushi of Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan was the Reverend Sakae Sekiguchi. In addition, the presiding justice forced Keiju Okada to admit her affiliation with a separate religious order, and was ordered not to use the "Goshinmon," the symbol of Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan, from here on in its current form (see attached copies of court documents).
Our common understanding of the meaning of "settlement" is for both sides to halt their discord and agree upon an issue. In the terminology of the court, however, the meaning differs. Rather, instead of the use of a ruling to decide which side is correct, if both parties agree to approve of the "settlement stipulations" expressed by the presiding justice, those stipulations are then deemed to be legal regulations, with each party then adopting their own separate actions.
In this case, the settlement arbitration was submitted to the Tokyo High Court by Keiju Okada, with the presiding justice's "settlement recommendation proposal" submitted to both Keiju Okada and Reverend Sakae on May 10. Essentially, this recommendation proposal is not legally binding, and it is entrusted to the free will of either party where or not to agree with its clauses. A study period was allotted for this purpose, with both parties reporting to the court once again on May 22 to express their respective intentions to the presiding justice.
The presiding justice expressed to Ms. Keiju Okada the conditions for recognizing Reverend Sakae Sekiguchi as the Second Oshienushi of Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan, with Okada recognizing that "this is the truth." In other words, while in the court case up to that point Keiju Okada had consistently held that she personally was the Oshienushi of Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan, at this point she clearly denied this assertion with her own words. Furthermore, she also recognized all of the other stipulations expressed in the recommendation proposal. This was equivalent to confessing that, "All of my assertions over the past eight years have been lies," meaning that she had continued to deceive the court over this extended period of time. No matter to what degree a court can be regarded as a venue of human intellect, the question must be asked if deception is something which should be allowed on the part of a person of a religious order.
To Okada, the recommendation proposal handed down at this time was extremely severe in content. All of her assertions made up to that point were for all practical purposes negated, and normally it could be said that this ruling would have been extremely difficult to accept. There must be some type of special reason for her decision to comply with this recommendation, despite the strict nature of the terms.
The reason for this course of action clearly lies in the fact that the decision to reject this recommendation (and in doing so consign the conclusion of the case to the ruling of the court) would have carried the threat of inviting even more drastic results than those stipulated in the settlement. In short, this decision was based on the fear that she would have suffered a total defeat in the case, thereby not only losing her position in Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan but also being forced to return all of the assets which she had willfully taken from the religious order up to that point. There was also the possibility that she would have lost the name "Sukyo Mahikari" and her status of a representative of that order.
The defeat of Keiju Okada in this case had already been clearly projected by the earlier court rulings, and was an event sufficiently conjectured to occur from the subsequent progress in the proceedings. Upon examination of the content of the settlement stipulations, furthermore, this outcome was manifest beyond doubt.
Anyone reading the text of the court rulings to date will be clearly aware of the contradictions and inconsistencies, and the deception of the assertions made by Keiju Okada. The defeat, therefore, was nothing more than a matter of time. Under these circumstances, if this defeat had been pronounced in decisive terms through the final ruling, the falsehoods contained in her statements would have been clearly disclosed in the text of the judgment. This would have be witnessed by a large number of kumite, causing her to suffer major damage as a result.
Rather than risking such a major threat, complying with this recommendation proposal was seen as leaving the margin for survival, a conclusion which certainly led to her decision to make that move.
The settlement was thus reached on the basis of these circumstances. However, to the kumite who know little if anything about the facts relating to this court case, the information presented above may prove difficult to adequately digest and comprehend. Therefore, from the perspective of gaining a deeper understanding of the particulars on the part of these kumite, we wish to introduce a simple description of the circumstances before and after the Ascension of the First Oshienushi and the designation of the Second Oshienushi, the progression of events leading up to the trial, the course of the trial itself and other areas, following these events as they unfolded in time.
On the morning of this day, Keiju Okada was called before the altar by the First Oshienushi, who told her: "Yesterday I was scolded by Su God with regard to the delay in the construction of the World Headquarters, being told: 'You are running behind schedule, the people of Yamato are slow. It will not be done in time.'" Then, the First Oshienushi placed the Omitama which he always wore on himself on her. This caused her great concern, and she asked: "If the unthinkable should happen, what should I do?"
The First Oshienushi replied: "Ask Mr. Sekiguchi to serve as Second Oshienushi," and entrusted her with the Omitama to be used by the Second Oshienushi. The First Oshienushi then stated: "This Omitama must continue to be used by the Second and then the Third Oshienushi." (Quotation from text of ruling of Tokyo District Court.)
* June 22-23, 1974The First Oshienushi, who because of an official trip to regional areas had come from the Atami Motomitamaza to the Tokyo Hanegi Motomitamaza, during his evening interview complained that he was not feeling well, and laid down to rest on the second floor. After this he fell into a coma, and remained in that state until the early morning of the following day (June 23), when the Ascension took place.
* June 25, 1974At about 10:45 p.m., at the end of the wake organized by the leaders of the order, at the Oshienushi Office of the Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan headquarters (in the Denenchofu district of Ota Ward in Tokyo) Keiju Okada conveyed the following message to 27 headquarters senior and junior department directors and district guidance senior and junior directors with regard to the last wishes of the Reverend Koutama Okada, the First Oshienushi:
"I will now convey the words of my father. On the morning of June 13, I was called by my father to the altar. My father then said: 'You are running behind schedule, the people of Yamato are slow.' My father then gave me the Omitama which he always wore. I asked him what to do if he should Ascend. He told me: 'Request that Mr. Sekiguchi serve as the Second Oshienushi,' and then gave me the Omitama to be used by the Second Oshienushi. He then said: 'This Omitama is to be continued to be used by the Second and then the Third Oshienushi.'
"I am afraid to continue to keep this indefinitely, and want to hand it over at once. Do you all understand what I am saying? Please understand. Because of this critical situation, I have spoken to you without mixing in any personal emotion. I want you all to understand.
"My father wore three Omitama. One is the Omitama for the Second Oshienushi, one was received from Mr. Lamb, and the one I am wearing now is my father's Omitama.
"Before my father went to Paris, he placed the Omitama for the Second Oshienushi on me, and said: 'If anything should happen, succeed to the Second Oshienushi.' When my father returned safely to Japan, he told me: 'Return the Omitama which I entrusted to you,' and I returned to him the Omitama for use by the Second Oshienushi. The Omitama I am wearing now is my father's Omitama, and not the one to be used by the Second Oshienushi. Because this is such an critical situation, I have spoken to you without mixing in any personal emotion." (The above information was written on notes taken by a individual who was present at that time, with the content of the notes confirmed and affixed with the personal seals of almost all of the persons in attendance -- from materials submitted to the court.)
As is perfectly clear from these recollections, the First Oshienushi clearly named Reverend Sakae Sekiguchi to serve as the Second Oshienushi.
* June 26, 1974While the previous night Keiju Okada expressed the intention of handing over the "Second Oshienushi Omitama" to Reverend Sekiguchi, the Reverend himself, citing the late hour, asked that it be handed over the following morning at the altar (this in the presence of the headquarters junior and senior directors and district guidance department directors).
The next morning, however, the leaders were told to go downstairs from the second-floor altar, with the "Second Oshienushi Omitama" passed from Keiju Okada to Reverend Sekiguchi in accordance with the last wishes of the First Oshienushi, only in the presence of Account Department Senior Director Arima and Secretary Section Director Tomita (at the time).
This change is believed to have stemmed from the results of a conversation with Keiju Okada instigated by Senior Director Kiyoharu Tomomori that morning past 2:00 a.m., in which Tomomori told her: "From here on you must not advance things without consulting with me (Tomomori)" (from Tomomori's statements to the court).
* July 5, 1974A bogus appointment registration of the Representing Officer of the order was secretly carried out in the name of Kouko (Keiju) Okada at the Omori Registration Office.
Prior to this, on July 1, a mutual election was arbitrarily held by four officers of the order -- Kouko Okada, Yamamoto (now diseased), Tomomori and Okamoto (now diseased) -- with Okada selected as Representing Officer and the registration of that fact secretly carried out.
This registration totally ignored the announcement made previously on June 25 in the presence of the headquarters junior and senior directors and district guidance department directors, in which Reverend Sekiguchi was named Second Oshienushi by divine command, with the "Second Oshienushi Omitama" passed to him the following morning. As such, this was an illegitimate action which effectively overrode the will of the First Oshienushi. This is because it is stipulated in Article 6 of the Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan Rules that: "The Representing Officer shall be named by the Oshienushi." Therefore, Reverend Sekiguchi, who was named the Second Oshienushi, was the legitimate Representing Officer.
The action by the four officers is not only incomprehensible, but must also be described as being blatantly lacking in reason. This behavior was an act of betrayal on their part, and effectively established Kouko Okada as the Second Oshienushi on a legal foundation separate from the divine command of Sakae Sekiguchi as the Second Oshienushi. This created the basis for the dispute which would follow.
* July 13, 1974On this date, the "Funeral Ceremony for the First Oshienushi-sama" was held at the Nihon Budokan in the Kudan quarter of Tokyo, with well over 10,000 kumite in attendance. At this time, Official Chief Matsudaira announced "Second Oshienushi Sekiguchi" before all leader kumite. Reverend Sekiguchi took the podium, and delivered an address which included following comment:
"As I have received divine command, I shall set aside all things in service to Su God." With regard to Keiju Okada, he declared: "I shall take great care of her, as a remembrance of the First Oshienushi" (remaining as record on the film taken at that time -- court materials).
* July 14, 1974The monthly ceremony of the headquarters was held at the Tokyo Distribution Center at Haneda. Oshienushi Sekiguchi served as Saishu, and Kouko Okada took the second seat in the holy area. In addition, Mr. Kenji Kui, Guidance Department Director of the North Kansai district at the time, attended as the delegate of the officers and the kumite, and offered a pledge to Oshienushi Sekiguchi.
* July 17, 1974The manager (Michihiro Takai) who went to the Omori Registration Office in order to register the Representing Officer on the occasion of the installation of Reverend Sekiguchi as the Second Oshienushi was shocked to discover the registration of Keiju Okada as the Representing Officer. This fact was immediately reported to Reverend Sekiguchi, with discussions held by certain members of the order on how to deal with the situation.
* July 18, 1974At the order headquarters, a Category One Council, the highest ranking conference at the order, was called at the recommendation of Oshienushi Sekiguchi, over which Kenji Kui presided as chairperson. Taking part in this council were slightly over 20 headquarters department directors and district guidance department directors, with discussions of the order's future administrative policy held under the auspices of Second Oshienushi Sekiguchi. In addition, opinions were expressed about the new title, duties, authority and other areas concerning Keiju Okada.
On this occasion, the "registration problem" was not touched upon. The schedule was to deal with this issue at a later date, and demand that Keiju Okada and other standing officers take action in dealing with that situation.
* July 25, 1974Discussions of how to handle the registration problem were held between Senior Director (at the time) Kiyoharu Tomomori as the representative of the Kouko Okada side, and directors Kaneko and Kudo as the Oshienushi Sekiguchi side. At this time, Senior Director Tomomori stated: "There is no doubt that Mr. Sekiguchi is the Second Oshienushi," and "Designation of Sakae Sekiguchi as the Representing Director is also the correct stance" (tape recording -- court materials).
The talks at this time also covered the Saishu problem at the monthly ceremony of the headquarters, with the decision reached to respond on this concern (as well as the registration issue) at a later date.
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