TOKYO – Even by the standards of the alleged cook and accomplices commonly found on the CPAC grid, one of this year’s speakers has an extraordinary background, which includes the front of an organization that has claimed – in all seriousness – to be able to channel Donald Trump’s guardians through a magical medium.
The former political leader of a Japanese cult called Happy Science, Jay “Hiroaki” Aeba, is on the bill Friday.
Like Trump, Aeba is accused of fraud at home, but he does not think it should be held against him.
We asked Aeba for explanation, but we did not answer. He is now head of the Japanese Conservative Union, although he said last year that he is still a believer in Happy Science.
Aeba’s guru, Ryuho Okawa, claims to be a Venusian god named El Cantare who created life on earth – and is also a reincarnation of the Buddha, just in case you were wondering. Okawa is not only a funny dressing room and a self-proclaimed deity, but he says he has the power to channel the spirits of any person, living or dead. He claims to have had a great awakening in 1981 and then founded the Happy Science religion (Kofuku no Kagaku) in 1986. In American terms, he was crucified like Billy Graham with Shirley MacLaine. He channeled the spirits of Jesus, Kim Jong II, and in 2016, he even managed to get an exclusive interview with the guardian spirit of Donald Trump.
In that amazing encounter, Trump’s spirit, via Okawa, correctly said he would be the next president.
You’ve never seen anything like the spirit of Donald Trump who has a Japanese visionary and discussed New York cheesecake as a political metaphor. It is a pity that the God (Okawa) can not reach the CPAC, but at least his former disciple, Aeba, speaks.
The CPAC, which runs until Sunday afternoon, features the best and brightest of the Republican Party and its allies, such as the uprising that Missouri Senator Josh Hawley arouses, and the usual variety of foxes and enemies from Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp. Aeba is scheduled to take the podium to Donald Trump Jr. and talk about China’s threat to the US
This will not be the first time Aeba speaks during the event – indeed he claims to be the first Japanese to speak at the chapter of the event. If you read Aeba’s online profile in English, it seems that there are no lies at first glance, but there are what the Jesuits would call some sins of failure.
He is a self-proclaimed conservative commentator and columnist and chairman of the Japanese Conservative Union (JCU), which was founded in 2015. The profile says: ‘Jay attended his first CPAC in 2011 and founded JCU in 2015 as a counterpart to the American Conservatives. Union (ACU). In 2017, JCU and ACU hosted the very first International CPAC in Tokyo, where experts from across the Indian Pacific met to discuss critical issues such as the region’s economic and military security in the light of Chinese expansion, nuclear power. threat posed by North Korea, the development and regulation of the cryptocurrency marketst…. To date, JCU and ACU have hosted four Japanese CPACs. “
This is all true. What his biography does not mention is that Aeba was a member of the Happy Science cult in Japan for many years and was also an important figure in the creation of their political arm, the Happiness Realization Party.
The Happy Science cult apparently teaches that Okawa, the founder, is a god, and only by following his teachings can one attain happiness in this and the next life. They believe in aliens, reincarnation and multi-dimensions. Some of the doctrines are modeled on the Buddhist eightfold path and proclaim love, wisdom, and self-reflection. At the same time, the cult also learns that the massacre in Nanjing never took place and that Japan must abolish its pacifist constitution, clean up as much as possible and prepare for a catastrophic war.
In one weekly, the group’s total capital was reported to be about $ 1.8 billion – money encouraged believers to buy copies of Okawa’s numerous books, from the extravagant donations of followers and to self-help seminars held by the organization. Of course, they also sell prayers and charms. During the pandemic, Happy Science finds itself in hot water to sell “drugs” for COVID-19.
Happy Science – not content with a spiritual force – launched its own political party in 2009, and Aeba was the first party leader. He will serve as head of the research department and hold many other positions within the party. In 2011, while attending his first CPAC, he was still an executive member of the Happiness Realization Party and presumably began networking with America’s conservative elite in hopes of giving the Happiness Party an aura of legitimacy.
Aeba, who also used the alias Jikido “Jay” Aeba, and sometimes goes by Jay H. Aeba, was born in 1967 and studied at the elite division of Keio University Law in 1989. In 1990, he joined the headquarters of Happy Science and in May 2009 he became their political leader. He was the head of the liaison organization. In 2013, he became head of the research and investigation division. In 2015, he apparently left the party and formed the Japanese Conservative Union. It is not entirely clear what relationship Aeba had with his former party after the founding of JCU, but his relationship with Happy Science seems strained – just like Trump’s relationship with the GOP. Although in an interview published last year in the journal SEIRON, he said that he is still a believer in Happy Science.
On April 6, 2020, he changed his name to Hiroaki Aeba. Three days later, on April 9, Happy Science publicly denied that they had any connection to Hiroaki Aeba or Jikido Aeba and the JCU on their website. Why? Possibly because two magazines reported in April last year on a scandal within the JCU that apparently involved Aeba in possible fraud involving cryptocurrency. According to the articles, Aeba raised nearly nine million dollars to create a virtual currency called Liberty. In his fundraising efforts, he used a photo of himself and Donald Trump in a pamphlet handed out to potential investors. The photo was enough to convince many of his credibility.
The Japanese media reports that it is still a mystery what happened to the nearly nine million dollars in funding used to create the virtual currency, and this has led to internal battles within the JCU.
The JCU said in an email to The Daily Beast about the alleged misconduct of cryptocurrencies, “Jay [Aeba] and JCU continues to address and address this issue with the cooperation of experts, including advocates. ”
One thing is for sure: the picture of Trump and Aeba is actually real.
There are some similarities between Aeba and Trump. They are both political opportunists, charismatic speakers, skilled at using celebrity connections to bolster their image – and both are accused of fraud. For Aeba, his photos and meetings with Trump gave him an air of prestige and access among Japan’s arch – conservatives. He may have used it for his own gain rather than for the benefit of the Happy Science cult, but it seems to be working well.
While Aeba was a member of the Happiness Realization Party, the political arm of the cult, he gave them access to the wealth and influence of the Republican Party. JCU told The Daily Beast: “Since its inception [in 2015] JCU has never had a relationship with Happy Science (HS) or the Happiness Realization Party (HRP). As for chairman Jay Aeba, he has also now completely left the HS organization and HRP. As for his personal beliefs, we do not know, because the JCU has a policy of religious freedom for all members and staff. ”
Trump supporters at CPAC may be worried that the Republican Party is trying to move away from the Trump era, but even if he returns as the presidential candidate for 2024, Trump is mortal, unlike culture leader Okawa, he does not claim he will do not be constantly reincarnated and live on forever.
This is where the Happy Science cult comes in handy. Even after he dies, the ghost of Trump can still invoke the shots for years via a magical medium.
Isn’t that something to be happy about?