(Minghui.org) The Japan Falun Dafa Association held activities on December 9, 2025, in Nagoya to commemorate International Human Rights Day. The activities included an information session and peaceful protest outside the Chinese consulate in Nagoya to call for an end to the persecution. Two elected officials sent video recordings expressing their support for the information session and their respect for the nine Falun Dafa practitioners in Japan who testified during the event.
During the Falun Gong Persecution Testimony Session, nine Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) practitioners who live in Japan spoke about the torture and illegal detentions they and their family members in China have endured. They called on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to immediately end the persecution. They also called on the international community to pay attention to these human rights abuses and work together to end the persecution.
During the Q&A at the end of the session, someone asked why Falun Gong is being persecuted. Practitioners explained, “Falun Gong has significant health benefits, so the number of people practicing increased rapidly. The CCP saw this as a threat.” Another question raised by audience members was the difference between Falun Gong and other forms of qigong. Practitioners answered, “Falun Gong emphasizes cultivation of one’s moral character. This is also why the practice has obvious effects on treating stubborn ailments.”
Nine practitioners described how they were persecuted by the CCP during an information session held in Nagoya on December 9.
Japan Falun Dafa Association Chairman: The CCP’s Authoritarian Rule Is Above the Law
Mr. Inagaki, chairman of the Japan Falun Dafa Association, said in his speech at the information session, “The nearly 27-year long persecution of Falun Gong continues today. The fundamental cause of this senseless persecution is the CCP’s one-party authoritarian rule.”
Mr. Inagaki, chairman of the Japan Falun Dafa Association, spoke at the information session.
He said, “In an ordinary, democratic country ruled by law, such things would not happen. But in communist China, the power of the CCP is above the rule of law. If people don’t go along with its wishes, they are suppressed or removed. As the number of people practicing Falun Gong grew, perhaps it became a ‘threat’ in the eyes of the CCP. To my knowledge, former CCP head Jiang Zemin was extremely jealous of the support Falun Gong had among Chinese citizens and therefore he began to commit crimes against practitioners.”
Mr. Inagaki went on to say, “We are holding this event today to help everyone understand that such things can happen in a country where the CCP’s authoritarian rule is above the law. We hope everyone can listen and think about how much the practitioners who spoke today have suffered, and why they had no choice but to come to Japan.”
Former Elected Official: Japan Should Urgently Pass Laws to Protect Falun Gong
Mr. Hirosato Nakatugawa, a former member of the lower house of the Japanese Diet, sent a video message to express his support for the Falun Gong Persecution Testimony Session.
Mr. Hirosato Nakatugawa expressed his support for Falun Gong practitioners.
Mr. Nakatugawa has been committed to exposing and stopping human rights abuses, including the CCP’s forced organ harvesting, for nearly 25 years. Initially, this topic was intentionally avoided by politicians in Japan for a long time. Today, however, international community regards this as a severe human rights violation that cannot be ignored.
This spring, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Bill that included sanctions such as freezing the assets of those who participate in live organ harvesting. Mr. Nakatugawa stressed that, “Japan also urgently needs to implement similar laws.” He said, “I too will continue to try my best to push for this from now on.”
Member of the Zushi City Council: The Step You Took Today Will Change the Future
Mr. Hiroaki Maruyama, member of the Zushi City Council sent a message to express his support and respect for Falun Gong practitioners.
“At times, great danger follows telling the truth, but taking this step has the power to change the future,” said Mr. Hiroaki Maruyama in his video recorded message. He expressed his support and respect for practitioners who testified and exposed the persecution they endured in China.
He said, “Today in Japan, there are people who lost their families as well. We cannot ignore this reality.” He also pointed out that, when a country tramples on its own citizens’ basic human rights, the international community should continue to speak out. The voices of those who bravely stood up to give testimony will surely encourage those who are suffering and push for even wider support in Japan as well as around the world.
Mr. Maruyama concluded his message by saying that, as a nation that respects human rights, Japan is also being severely tested on how it should face and respond to this problem.
Excerpts of Testimonies Given by Falun Gong Practitioners
Mr. Zhou spoke of how he was sentenced to 12 years in prison simply for refusing to stop practicing Falun Gong. He survivied unimaginable torture in prison.
He said, “The guards pushed me down the steps and broke a bone in my left shoulder. I was not allowed to sleep for nine days and nights. Criminal inmates were instructed to monitor me and took turns beating me. This went on for nine days. Ribs on both sides of my chest and on the left side of my back were broken in the beatings. The tendon in my right thumb ruptured, and my left testicle was shattered. My hearing deteriorated from frequent slaps in the face, and pus oozed from both ears for about six months.
“The guards even told me, ‘Whatever we do to you is legal.’” Mr. Zhou said that what he experienced is a true reflection of the persecution countless people continue to be subjected to, and these victims have no way to get the word out.
Ms. Zhang was detained four times for practicing Falun Gong. She was imprisoned in a small, dark room. Her tormentors grabbed her head and pushed it on the ground, stuffed a cloth in her mouth, and put a weight on her back, making it hard for her to breathe. Two thugs hitt her buttocks and back with bamboo sticks and police batons. They hit her so hard they broke out in a sweat and broke several bamboo sticks. They also shocked her head with an electric baton.
Ms. Zhang described her suffering: “My head felt like it was spinning, and the pain was unbearable. My legs were bruised and there was blood in my urine.” She escaped by jumping from the second floor. Her sister is still being tortured in China and is on the brink of death. She called on the Japanese government to pay attention to the persecution her family members and other Falun Gong practitioners are being subjected to in China.
Mr. Gong’s mother was incarcerated for 17 years because she refused to give up Falun Gong. In prison, she was force-fed salt water through her nose, shocked with electric batons, and otherwise cruelly tortured.
Last year, Mr. Gong’s mother was arrested again and sentenced to five years in prison. Last week, when his brother went to visit her, she had changed so much that he hardly recognized her. She’d lost all her upper teeth, and, in just two months, and her mental state had deteriorated significantly. His brother asked how she’d lost her teeth several times, but she changed the subject every time. The guards warned other family members who visited her, “not to talk about sensitive topics or she will lose her visitation rights.” Under such strict surveillance, there is no way his mother can tell anyone how she is being tortured.
Mr. Gong said his mother’s experience is a true reflection of the situation of countless victims in China. He asked those in the audience to face this inhuman persecution in hopes that they can help save them.
I Want to Share the Information I Heard Today with More People
One man said he decided to attend the information session after he was given a flyer about it. He said, “I am very sad. No words can express my feelings after hearing the suffering of these nine practitioners. As a Japanese, I wonder what we can do. One way is by spreading the truth in Japan.
“I believe what these practitioners have said is true. They have to counter the lies spread by China. I realize how big an issue it is to pass along what I learned today to more people. Tomorrow is International Human Rights Day. For those still suffering in China, for those who are already in Japan, and for those who want to come to Japan but are unable to, I too want to do something to uphold human rights. I learned a lot today. Thank you.”
Please Persist in What You Are Doing
Mr. Tanigawa listened to practitioners describe the persecution in China.
Mr Tanigawa, a real estate company executive, was in the building where the information session was being held on other business. He took a flyer and listened as practitioners described the persecution in China.
Although he was unable to attend the session, he listened to practitioners’ explanation and said, “I hope you spread this message to the world through differenct media channels and ask people to help stop these awful things. I also hope you do not give in, that you continue to do what you are doing.”
Event Outside the Chinese Consulate
On December 6, to commemorate International Human Rights Day, practitioners gathered outside the Chinese consulate in Nagoya with banners in many languages that read: “Falun Dafa Is Great,” “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” and “SOS: Stop Persecuting Falun Gong.” They called on people to pay attention to the 26-year-long persecution that targets Falun Gong practitioners in China and asked the CCP to immediately end the suppression.
Practitioners held banners outside the Chinese consulate in Nagoya on December 6.
Mr. Duy, a practitioner who works in Aichi prefecture, said he was there to call on the CCP to stop the persecution: “This suppression that has gone on for 26 years, and practitioners who follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, as well as their families, have suffered greatly.
“We hope more people learn the facts through this activity and that the international community as well as the general public pay attention to this severe human rights abuse. We hope this persecution will end soon, so that everyone can practice cultivation freely.”
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