Episode 742: Happy Science Cult: Neither Happy nor Scientific

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about one of the largest cults in Japan—the Happy Science Cult. Yes, that’s really their name. They were founded by Ryuho Okawa who was the key rival to the Aum Shinriko cult (who tried to kill Okawa with poison gas in his car). The Happies believe that Okawa is the embodiment of the god El Cantare who was born on Venus millions of years ago. Their leader channels people like Jesus, Buddha, Socrates, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and even Michael Jackson to write books for him. They produce tons of horrible anime, try to influence elections, and of course take all the money they can. Why does Okawa’s son claim he is a fraud? How many books have they written? Why are they called Happy Science? Listen, laugh, learn.   Visit Our Sources: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Happy_Science https://www.vice.com/en/article/jmvan4/my-afternoon-with-a-failed-japanese-cult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Science https://theworld.org/stories/2022-11-30/japan-s-infamous-happy-cult-sets-sights-united-states https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230302-japan-happy-science-cult-leader-okawa-dies-media https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Death-of-the-founder-of-Happy-Science,-a-controversial-Japanese-religious-sect-57887.html https://gamerant.com/japanese-cult-happy-science-anime/