AICHI –
The sale of non secular companies that function temples and shrines throughout Japan is drawing rising scrutiny from authorities, who concern the transactions could possibly be used for tax evasion and cash laundering, as brokers brazenly promote properties and company standing for tens and even lots of of hundreds of thousands of yen.
“This is a private website,” one itemizing stated.
“New religious corporation, Sapporo, 60 million yen. Fine to leave it unattended after purchase,” one other learn.
“Right to establish a new religious corporation, 15 million yen,” stated one other itemizing.
The web site displayed the names of temples and shrines from throughout Japan alongside transaction costs working into the tens of hundreds of thousands of yen. Some had been within the Tokai area.
“Aichi Prefecture, Toyota City, 300 million yen,” one itemizing stated.
“Gifu Prefecture, Nakatsugawa City, with land and buildings, 200 million yen. A station will be built for the linear motor Shinkansen, turning the area into a tourist destination. Land prices may rise,” one other stated.
The website listed about 150 non secular companies on the market, together with temples, shrines and new non secular organizations.
Religious companies in Japan obtain broad tax advantages. Income from donations and gross sales of amulets, in addition to belongings reminiscent of land and buildings, are typically tax-exempt, and companies with annual revenue of as much as 80 million yen will not be required to file revenue and expenditure stories.
Sales concentrating on these advantages are actually turning into an issue. A person who operates the positioning agreed to debate the enterprise.
“Some people want to sell because they have no successor and want to dispose of it for cash,” stated Takao Yamamoto, a spiritual company dealer. “Another case is collateral for debt. Some temples were forced to sell the religious corporation because they could not repay debts.”
Yamamoto, who says he works as a spiritual company dealer in Osaka, stated many patrons have goals unrelated to religion.
“Most people who come here are not thinking about practicing religion,” Yamamoto stated. “There are various advantages for buyers. Some want to use it for inheritance, and some want to use it for tax evasion or tax savings. I do ask what their purpose is. If they openly say ‘tax evasion,’ I cannot sell it.”
If misused, a spiritual company could possibly be used for tax evasion or cash laundering, as a result of revenue or cash obtained by unlawful acts might be positioned into the company as donations, making the path tough to hint and probably permitting it to grow to be tax-exempt.
“I was told, ‘You must not sell them’ and ‘You will be arrested,'” Yamamoto stated. “But no matter where I look, there is no law saying you cannot sell one.”
Yamamoto stated all transactions are performed in money and that no receipts are issued.
“We lay out the cash, and after the buyer leaves, I split the money with the seller,” he stated.
He stated Japanese patrons will not be the one ones looking for non secular companies.
“Chinese buyers, for example, buy one for 60 million yen because it is cheap and ask, ‘Can I bulldoze everything?'” Yamamoto stated.
Yamamoto stated he confirms with patrons that the aim is non secular religion and stresses the necessity to correctly preserve buildings and appoint a chief priest.
Visits to services listed on the web site confirmed nobody current at one website. Another temple was additionally abandoned, with overgrown vegetation and elements of its pillars visibly decayed.
“There has not been much coming and going recently,” a close-by resident stated. “After the bubble burst, visitors stopped coming.”
At one other temple, an individual believed to be the chief priest was current. When advised the temple was listed on the market on-line, the priest stated, “Really? That is a problem. I did not put it up, and it has to be removed.” Asked whether or not he had any information of the itemizing, he stated, “None.” The priest denied that the temple had been put up on the market.
The nationwide authorities has additionally begun treating the sale of non secular companies as an issue and has moved to analyze. Daihoji, a 550-year-old temple in Aisai, Aichi Prefecture, which isn’t related to any sale, obtained a doc in May.
“A questionnaire like this came from the Agency for Cultural Affairs,” stated Renge Haseo, chief priest of Daihoji.
The sender was the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The doc was titled a questionnaire on the sale of non secular companies and requested whether or not recipients had heard of non secular companies being purchased and bought, or whether or not they had been approached a couple of sale. The questionnaire is being despatched randomly to spiritual companies nationwide.
“There were about three times when people said they wanted to buy a temple I concurrently oversee,” Haseo stated. “I declined each time, but I have been approached by people who wanted to buy it.”
The questionnaire went additional.
“It said, ‘Please tell us if you know of anything that appears to be improper use of corporate status,’ ‘Please write down anything you have actually seen’ and ‘We may conduct follow-up interviews later,'” Haseo stated. “I was surprised that the government was going this far.”
However, Haseo stated that given the state of Buddhism in Japan, promoting a temple can’t be rejected outright in each case.
“It is said that the number of temples is three times what it should be,” Haseo stated. “If they become difficult to maintain in the future, then integration or closure, even if not through sale, should naturally be possible.”
The questionnaire additionally reached Yamamoto, the non secular company dealer.
“For the question, ‘Have you seen signs or websites?’ I wrote, ‘No,'” Yamamoto stated. “When it said, ‘Please tell us if you have,’ I thought, that means me.”
Asked whether or not that was a blatant lie, Yamamoto replied, “It is a blatant lie. There is no problem even if I write a lie, because I will not be punished.”
Yamamoto himself operates a spiritual company, however its principal object of worship is merely a printed sheet of paper connected to a wall.
Asked whether or not he feels responsible, Yamamoto stated, “No. I only sell after they tell me what their purpose is.”
An Agency for Cultural Affairs official advised CBC Television that based mostly on the questionnaire and interviews, the company plans to conduct hearings with about 30 companies whose accountable officers have modified regularly previously.
“I think regulation of sales is impossible,” Yamamoto stated. “You cannot distinguish between religious corporations that are operating properly and those that are sloppy.”
Religious companies are being purchased and bought, generally with out these related to them even realizing. Behind the transactions lies a big and opaque shadow market.
Source: CBC