Fumika Shimizu Retires from Entertainment to Join Controversial Religious Organizatio
 

Actress Fumika Shimizu (age 22) announced her decision to retire from the entertainment industry*on February 11th. *Shimizu has stated that she intends to become a member of the controversial religious organization Happy Science and wishes to devote herself fully to their activities.

She played Yuki in Kamen Rider Fourze.



http://tokusatsunetwork.com/2017/02/...happy-science/

Sounds like she's been involved for some time (the article states "since childhood"), she's just dedicated now. If she finds it fulfilling, good for her. If she ends up as a sex puppet for some phony messiah, well, that's too bad.

Happy Science? I never heard about them. So what make them so controversial?

Yuki Joins Shocker Organization.

Poor brainwashed girl.

Oh lots of things. The guy the founded it, Okawa, claims that he channels the spirits of a number of deities such as Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha, etc. He also claims to be an avatar of the real heavenly father.

That's just the icing. The organization has also made a lot of pushes for militarization of Japan. Claims that China and N. Korea plan to nuke Japan and invade, and that the "angel of light" Margaret Thatcher wanted Japan to invade Taiwan.

So yeah, bloody crazy.

Sucks to hear. Though, in her case, the article seems like she was basically involved a lot earlier than this real announcement. Poor thing.

You know, the extreme syncretism thing is pretty benign in the face of THAT ferret sausage madness.

Does Happy Science have any relation to Scientology or is it a separate entity altogether?

Anyway, I can only echo MarsHottentot’s sentiment. If Shimizu has found “home” in this system’s―for lack of a better word―beliefs and is happy with the teachings, then I hope things work well for her.

Sad to see people brainwashed.

I wouldn't go that far. They're not brainwashed if they truly believe it and find happiness in it.

It's ironic, because if there's one Kamen Rider character that I could see getting brainwashed and joining a crazy cult, it would be Yuki.

Entirely separate.

Thing is though, "controversial religious group" kinda sets off warning bells in Japan ever since the Sarin Subway Attacks. And stuff like encouraging violation of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan REALLY doesn't sit well with the Japanese government.

I would. A lot of cult stories don't have happy endings. Especially when they're run with someone with A. A messiah complex and B. Wants Japan to become more militaristic and supports the use of nuclear arms.

Normally i'd be fine with somebody deciding to do what they want with their lives.

But that's just insane.

Unrelated. I just read that Happy Science has its own idol group called Anjewel.

Except Tomoko's the one to have done so. Weird how that works out.

Am I the only person that's happy that this woman has found what she believes is her calling regardless of what it is?

Yeah, pretty much. Because, at best, she's going to wake up someday and realize how much of her life she's wasted following a lie, a really stupid and bald-faced one, or... worse.

She's human, people. This happens to a lot of people. Don't pitty her or feel that she's special because of her tie to Toku. I feel joy that she's happy. And when/if she realizes the truth, I will feel for her. Feel for her as she feels. I would be the exact same way for the rest of you.

... 1, it's got nothing to do with her toku work, I'd feel the same way if anyone was doing this, it's just she's in the spotlight, and 2... I'm trying to toe the no politics rule here, but no one has ever benefited from people blindly supporting every single decision they make, regardless of their personal feelings.

Ah, bbut that's the thing. People do benefit from it. It's called experience. Those that don't get it didn't pay attention or learn their lesson. And that's all I'm going to say on this matter because that's all I have to say. Be glad for her. That is all. *poofs*

So she already knew about the cult for a long time, long before she played in Fourze?

Well, that kinda explain why she can pull off her Yuuki role (particularly during her crazy Gemini antics) really well.

So wait why did she have to retired to be a full fledged member? Also if she retired how will she make money? I mean she probably has some now but when it runs out how will she get more?

This is unfortunate. Even outside of Fourze, I am a fan so not getting any new material from her is pretty sad. From what I've read, her parents introduced her and three sisters into this thing from birth so it's not like she found this cult and then decided it was for her. She was indoctrinated from her earliest days.

What's really sad, to me at least, is the kind of underhanded nature of the whole thing. Reportedly, her agency knew nothing of her involvement in said cult, she was secretly working with lawyers to break her contract, and she basically disappeared off the grid a week or so ago, canceling all appearances, and claiming health issues to ride the last few days until she announced her retirement. She even refused to return contact attempts from her agency.

Now I know agencies in Japan aren't generally considered white hats, in fact they can be pretty darned despotic, but everything I've read paints her in not the best light. She apparently burned quite a few bridges on the way out and if she ever does decide to return to entertainment, she may find some doors closed to her because of this thing. I do wish her all the happiness in the world, but I'm not sure a cult like this is the best place to find genuine, unfettered joy. The illusion of it, certainly, but the real thing? Doubtful. I had a friend from school that joined a cult and it didn't really end well. This Happy Science thing is surprisingly large at something like 11,000,000 members worldwide, the vast majority (91% or so from what I read) in Japan.

Well, she still has a Twitter account, so we can at least see what she's up to and if she's okay.
https://twitter.com/sengen777

I really hope that she'll be fine and happy no matter what.

Yeah, regardless of whether you liked her as an actress or not, that's a bit of a shame to see. A young person being sucked up into a cult isn't really a great thing (and apparently having been indoctrinated her entire life is even sadder).

True. It's a shame she purged her original account, though. To be honest, she doesn't look very happy in the pic from Saturday, but it's way too easy to read something into a single image with very little context. As I said, I wish her all the happiness in the world, I'm just super wary of cults.

From what I get from her first tweets, she seems to have been unhappy with work lately and is really frustrated with people talking about her.
I know to little about Happy Science to say how bad it might be, but trust me, I'm wary of cults myself.

It looks like she's back, now working for the official talent agency of the religious organization. It looks like her upcoming projects are centered around the group as well.

Source: Ukiyaseed via Nihon Hero

Interesting.

Gemini Zodiarts FTW...

Now sending teh link to most of my Toku mates...