4.The aftereffects suffered by Makito Nozoe

The first lumbar vertebrae of Mr. Makito Nozoe (49), who resides in Mitaka, Tokyo, remains shattered. This is one of the aftereffects Nozoe suffered trying to escape from his place of confinement. As a result, his height has shrunk 3cm from 174cm (5'8") to 171.5 (5'7").

Makito Nozoe appeals to Banish More Deprogramming

It was the mid September 1992 when Nozoe was abducted andheld in confinement. It happened when he returned to home to see his mother . a Christian minister . who he had not seen for a long time. Hiswaiting family and relatives grabbed his arm and suddenly dragged andforced him into a car.

The place he had been taken to was a room in a condominium(apartment building). All the windows were boarded up tightly, and thefront door had a special lock requiring a PIN#. Upon examining the make of the lock closely, He says, "I began to feel cornered and my heartwas clogged with feelings of despair."

After a few days, Reverend Shotaro Sakaue of the OmiyaEvangelical Church (currently known as Saitama Evangelical Church) came and paid a visit. Sincethen, Sakaue would bring former members of the Unification Church and together they would repeatedly criticize the Unification Church.

"No matter what, I need to get out of here." As a means of escaping death, Nozoe wouldattempt to disguise himself to be "deprogrammed", pretending that he had given up his faith. Hidinghis attitude of rebellion, he quietly listened to what they had to say. By changing his attitude andbehavior, his family seemed to have been relieved and took down the boards covering the windows.

One night, he woke to go to the bathroom. Usually, he wasn't able to go without havingsomeone constantly watching him, even as he went to the bathroom. However, that night, no one woke up.

"It's got to be now!"

Being careful not to be noticed, he quietly opened the window and went out to the balcony. Hethen stood on the railing and after making up his mind, jumped from the 3rd floor balcony. At themoment when he was elated with joy and thought, "Alright!" he lost his consciousness. A few hours later when he regained his consciousness, morning was just breaking.

When he tried standing up, there was a sharp pain that shot down his spine. He had hurt hislower back when jumping, and he was not able to even stand.

Trying desperately to withstand the pain, he crawled forward into a dusk wooden areasurrounding the area where he had been held in confinement. At last, when he finally arrived on astreet, he picked up a taxi that had just happened to have passed by and returned to his home. He hadbeen freed his confinement on the 23rd morning after his abduction.

However, Nozoe had shattered his first lumbar vertebrae, and the doctors informed him that a full recovery was impossible and his lower body may suffer paralysis. Even though he was shocked withthe disheartening news, he says that the extreme joy of being liberated overwhelmed him even more. Nozoe, who was not able to move his legs at the time, slowly regained movement in them, and for 3months, he worked himself in rehab. In the end, he was able to regain normal movement in his legs. His doctor was totally surprised and said, "It's a miracle."

Currently, Nozoe lives together with his wife and two children. "During that period, both of mybody and heart were completely confined at the same time. We need to make sure that no one elsesuffers the way I did." As Nozoe still suffers from the aftereffects, he prays for the day that victims ofdeprogramming will be no more.

(Sekai Nippo June 26, 2009)