Why is Japan So Obsessed with Cults? 

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My gf and i started a cult where we're the only humans and all the rest of the members are stray cats. Very little is achieved other than keeping my garbage cans from being knocked over.

The Cult of Fact Boi! WHERE ARE OUR ROBES FACT BOI!? We cant have nice ceremonies without robes.

😄 it’s funny watching each video, both members streams and regular episodes, and being able to pick out which videos he shot on the same day by the shirt he’s wearing🤣

Pre-WW2, Japan had the cult of Emperor worship, the newer cults replaced that. Japanese people like to have some sort of regulation in their lives and a sense of belonging to a group. This is a very simple explanation but there is some truth to it.

The cult of the almighty FactBoi would still make more sense than Scientology

Chef's kiss for the Babylon 5 Grey Council still being used as a cult reference My aged nerdy ass is deeply pleased

Simon Whistler is going to start the world's first RU-vid cult. For people obsessed with random facts, Conspiracy theories, Darwin awards & Florida Man.

Simon: "their cults are much more chill?" Me, knowing about Aum: "Oh my sweet summer child"

5:50 Missed opportunity for "The greater good" from Hot Fuzz 😂

I used to work down the road from the Ramtha cult in Yelm, Wa... they used to send recruiters to town and they would come into the stores pretending to shop, then randomly try to start up a conversation about how amazing of a person the cult leader was and how happy they were living at the compound it was always super creepy.

16:17 how does Simon not realize he already heads a cult, he talks wild space and time shit, and has thousands of dedicated followers hanging on his every video? He even has a way to contact each and every single one individually via Liam.

Simon, just coming from Brain Blaze marathon and now here???? Am I in a cult😬Peterrrrr

I was camping once in the American midwest. We encountered a cult. Forest people. Some of their clothes were handmade... but they appeared to be totally normal otherwise. I asked one of the younger guys what their cult was about... and he says, "I don't know. It's just a cult, man." That was a weird day.

I can understand the draw of cults. I was raised by parents who held (hold) a very angry and distrustful view of the government despite having no real reason to do so other than they both have "not like the other girls" energy. Plus, my dad is narcissistic enough that he believes he knows the "real truth" and anyone else who didn't subscribe to his particular flavor of insanity was beneath him and worth ridiculing. Towards the end of Bush's first* (my original comment said second but it was actually his first) term, he took all of his available cash and drained his savings to buy silver bars and coins because the government was about to collapse any day and money would be worthless. Hell, my sister dove head first into it and published a blog post where she literally threatened President Bush's life (we all had blogs at that time, and my profile picture was of me posed with one of my dad's many rifles). She was visited by the secret service in our little Florida town, at the shitty gas station where she worked at the time. She was made to delete her entire blog and was banned from the Internet for a while (I can't remember how long). At one point a handful of years later, they fell on hard times and were forced to apply for food stamps (they were vehemently against welfare and looked down on those who collected any type of welfare). They tried to convince me that they were only doing it to help bring down the government faster. I don't really talk to them anymore, especially after I got a blood clot and lost my leg, my dad was emailing me all kinds of articles about how it was my fault it happened because I was vaccinated against Covid. Looking back on all of it, I guess I was in a cult of sorts. I'm now estranged from all of my immediate family (parents and siblings) and it doesn't look like there will be any reconciliation, especially since my sister saw fit to "turn me in" to the Department for Children and Families because I'm just a horrible, toxic person because I won't fall in line with them. The caseworker saw right through the allegations and told us she was only here to close out the case. So, yeah...

I currently live in Japan. Cherry on top... Japan has mental health crisis & access to mental Healthcare crisis. So an abundance of cults & conspiracy believers is a continuing problem. I've had people try to recruit me. An African American. We went back & forth via translation app for nearly an hour at my front door. I'm a hard-core logic driven individual who's idols are Neil DT, Carl Sagan, Data 🖖&🖖Spock. At the end of the chat I'm pretty sure I convinced one of the recruiters to come to the pleasurable dark side of logic. It was like watching eyes light up for the first time. ✨️

I think another reason for Japan and South Korea being more cult centric that isn’t necessarily described here is that culturally, there’s always been an emphasis on group mindset, and operating with the betterment of the whole in mind as opposed to individualism. That manner of thinking is also the type of culture that cults try to develop to lure in and keep its participants - a mindset of being part of a community of like minded individuals, working to better the whole of the group, not questioning the group because the group knows better, etc. I could see this making it a lot easier for cults to hook onto people who are already familiar with that kind of mindset as it’s pretty established status quo in schools, the workplace, the familial circle, etc. I do genuinely wonder, with the uptick of feminism and general individualism that is starting to gain favor in South Korea recently, if we’ll start to see a decrease of cult involvement or behavior from the same generational group involved with the change in work and lifestyle culture.

I was born into a white supremacist doomsday cult, called "The Children of Canaan". I have 10 siblings that I know of, and probably more out there. So, just from my family alone, that's 13 people in a cult, so that should be taken into account when talking about people in cults. Most cults encourage massive families

The Japanese aren't allowed to express themselves outside of the very narrow confines of a repressive political and social system so they take to cults and fandoms as a means of escape. It gives them a sense of belonging (extremely important to an unusual degree among the Japanese).

Holy s***! Simon knows about the Kobayashi Maru! I'm shook. I'll have to join his cult, now.

they really got the infamous "hen tai" to edit this video

I ran a dragon cult as a teen, we ran a protection racket.

Kinda surprised that Aum Shinrikyo didnt even get a mention. That I noticed, at least?

Really love the work the new editor did. I'm going to Google their name to see if I can find more of their work right away!

I don't know who gifted me a membership, but THANKS!

Inadvertently joined a Buddhist cult while studying abroad in Japan but managed to cut ties when they started trying to sell me a cult newsletter subscription

I was waiting for the Happy Science Cult, the one that made multiple full length anime movies about their religion that include lizard people, furries, the space police, and the god of gods El Cantare.

The intro bafflingly completely glosses over the long history of Buddhism (and periods of violent interreligious conflict) in Japan, but other than that, the explanation is depressingly accurate. I managed to completely forget about Pane Wave. But hearing it, it all came back to me. Not sure I had heard Life Space Movement story. I think I may. Might just be archetype familiarity. Yamato no Miya may not be overtly violent, but convincing people to buy their overpriced water instead of medical treatment isn't harmless.

"No bloody A, B, C, or D!" .... or E, for that matter. Just the good ole Enterprise.

The Sarcasm was strong in this episode.

In Ireland I wanted the constitution to say freedom FROM religion

Why does every cult have a specific date for some random Ragnarok event? At least the Bible doesn’t give a particular time, it’s just sort of “random in the future…” 😂

2:25 - Mid roll ads 3:35 - Back to the video 4:25 - Chapter 1 - How did this happen ? 10:30 - Chapter 2 - Pana wave laboratory 15:25 - Chapter 3 - Life space movement 21:35 - Chapter 4 - Yamato no miya

Been living in Japan for the last six and a half years. The 15-ish number is accurate. 20% actually doesn't seem unreasonable. It's a thing. There's a small town called Ota in Gunma prefecture where it's about 50-60%. You should really do some deep dives on the bigger and more wacky cults here (this channel would be fun but other channels would work, too). Soka Gakkai is the biggest cult in Japan and doesn't get nearly enough air time on RU-vid.

Simon sounding like a Ferengi about to quote the Rules of Acquisition at the 18:00 mark.

Can we have an episode on billionaires doing stupid stuff? Like when Steve Jobs believed that he could fight body odour and cancer by not eating meat?

18:30 *cough**cough* Jared Leto *cough* lol

My mom and step dad are in a cult like that 18:10 they tried to get us all in on it but they didn’t succeed

These cults are funny. Everyone knows the only true religion is Spaceology. Because of Spaceology i have my very own robot hand.

I like the Cult of Personality 😁

How a religion works 1 - We are always correct. You are also correct if you agree with us. 2 - We need money. You will be happy if we get money. 3 - Everything that isn't part of us is wrong. You don't want to be wrong do you? 4 - The best thing you can do is help people to be happy and correct by getting them to join us and give us money. That's really about it. Follow this easy recipe and you too can start a religion.

3:45 is that a cat I hear?

I swear Nintendo is a cult 😅

I hope Simon covers the topic of Soundboard Prank calls which were at its peak during the 2000s-2010s. British dudes were active in this where they would join groups of pranksters call USA fast food locations pretending to be fire marshalls and demanding employees smash up restaurant windows to dissipate gas leaks to prevent explosions. Lots of Wendy’s and burger kings with smashed up windows

The comments section on this video is why we can't have nice things 🙄

Good to see Waldo/Wally has found a career.

Idea: Cult of Simon All hail factboi

The APA Hotel chain is run by a LOHAS (Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainability) cult whose leader is married to the leader of a Japanese ultranationalist movement. I try to stay in an APA whenever I get the chance to visit Japan. They have both groups' publications in every room.

Business Blaze = Brain Blaze = Simon Slacker !!!

I love how proud Simon seems that Japan got a couple of ideas from America after WWII even though he's not American. lol

The tenth planet apocalypse conspiracy is basically exactly the plot of the Doctor Who story ‘The Tenth Planet’ where a hitherto unknown 10 planet approaches Earth to steal its energy

The fact that a religious party, Komeito, has 7 percent of the lower senate’s seats, speaks of how medieval our separation of church and state is.

Many old martial arts dojos have a quasi-cult following.

Social alienation, breakdown of support systems including family as an institution and complex,fast paced lifestyle giving birth to stress,mental health problems and physical exhaustion are driving people to take solace in the cults which thrive on hope and positivity.

Editor : Hen Tai I see what you did there...

no one gonna mention 115 being played after 18:04 one of the greatest black ops tracks and Elena Siegman needs more appreciation! clearly so does kevin or the editor for their taste in music

2:11 and that's for a country that takes pride in their (badly understood) "non-religiousness". 9:22 that's a good idea: "it's our belief that by providing[good quality/affordable/scam-priced] appliances we add to our positive karma to give us a blessed afterlife"

Cults are always a fun thing to research. Much knowledge can be learned from them.

Well, at least the last lady (the one who hung with Buddha) realized the importance of the Noble Eightfold Path.

Fact Boi be BLAZIN'!

Only difference between religion and cults is the number of followers.

9 years ago I lived in a town with a cult, everyone warned us about them when we first showed up. The Pastor came by and invited us to worship with him and told us we could move to his compound, and that a major requirement was for us to sign over our pay checks to him. He didn't try to hide it at all

Here we effen go!

I started a cult with my daughters. We wear our PJ'S all day and eat cheetos and chocolate in bed whilst watching scary movies with our dog and cat lol it's the funniest cult I've ever been in... well... its the only cult I've been in but it's still the funniest 😂

PART 2 PLEASE

@7:23 to @7:40 This is called _religious syncretism._ They incorporate a hodgepodge of various religious customs, but since there is no 1 affiliation, they identify as atheist. Quite a bit different than atheists in the US and elsewhere.

7:59 the anime throwbacks

Someone attempted to recruit me and my Wife on a Train. It was cute the way they talked about the farm and how we would love the free life there....

New Idea for Decoding or Criminalist: Operation Snow White

“Exhibits A through E” is a reference to US criminal trials. Book #1 is Exhibit A. #2 is B… #5 is Exhibit E.

I escaped a cult pretending to be southern Baptist 15 years ago and I'm still scarred

Simon looks like he ate a🎵 Vegamite Sandwich when he was in the Land Down Under 🎵

"Imagine 1 in 100 (random) people in a room -- that's a lot of people!" After all my experience throughout life in America, that is exactly what I would expect.

Living in Japan I met an old guy who was dressed in all white wearing a white mask and he offered my friend all the money in his wallet to buy me and that was the most awkward encounter of my life

Who wants some Kool aid?!?! Let's go!!! As an American I can say with certainty that there's some strange people out there!! 😂

New channel. CULT BLAZE

Engagement bro❤

Square Space, perfect for making a website for your cul-- Private business.

The cult of squarespace

When you consider the fact that every religion is a cult, it gets even scarier!

Love that editor! 💀

Check out the Yellow deli in Kyoto!!!

LOL Mad props to editing for using the clip of NCA&T after they went into the Boneyard and beat the snot out of my wife's alma mater (East Carolina University). :D

Wouldn't this be more likely to come under the Into the Shadows channel? Also, maybe a good Into the Shadows topic?

The dolphin lost in the river would be a interesting story for one of your Chanel’s even if it’s only a short video I wouldn’t mind

Got to love a writer who randomly throws 'faraday cage' into a discussion of Electromagnetic radiation in a way that assumes that EVERYONE just knows what a Faraday cage is! :) My kind of person.

17.50 "oh come on kevin, give them a break kevin JOIN MY NEW DOLPHIN CULT KEVIN!"

Hey-ey-ey-ey……Let’s Go Buffalo!

Could you please make this a podcast? I'd honestly listen to these way more often!

Love this one! I get the feeling that there could be more episodes here…. Ps. We need some robes in the merch store and more candles in the basement! ✌️😸

I'm joining the Cult of Simon's Personality. He's already got the bald head, vaguely wise looking beard, and his various sidetracks will make him just mysterious enough to always ponder all he says.

No mention of Shoko Asahara who ordered his followers to release Sarin gas in the Tokyo subway that killed 14 people and injured over a thousand.

".1-.3% is 1/100 people" Good one

If I'm to understand it, the concept of having an authoritative master, one that you must be subservient to, is a pretty old and well-established one in Japan. I can only imagine that this might also play into the natural emergence of cults, as one of the core tenets of a cult is that the leader is not to be questioned in any way, shape or form, ever. Then again, I am a clueless American, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong here.

I'm wondering if Simon does anything else besides talking to a camera from morning till night. This guy is crazily productive.

i mean 1 in 100 is probably accurate. its probably higher depending on how you define a cult.

I know this is a serious subject but the Yu-Gi-Oh “It’s time to duel” killed me😂

14:30 Its because the scientific community downgraded Pluto to a planetoid.

Here’s one for the algorithm Fact Boi.

THIS GUY & DOG EXCREMENT ARE ON THE SAME LEVEL. GUTTER-WISE,