Ho No Hana

The Japanese sect Ho No Hana Sanpogyo (法の華三法行 "Hō No Hana Sanpōgyō") is often called the "foot reading cult," because its founder, Hogen Fukunaga, claimed he could diagnose illness by examining people's feet. He founded the group in 1987 after an alleged spiritual event where he claimed to have realized he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the Buddha. The group at one time claimed 30,000 members. However, Fukunaga charged $900 for the foot readings and a suspicion arose that he used the money to benefit himself. He was accused of swindling money from housewives and had to pay over a million dollars in damages.

Ho No Hana has now changed its name to Yorokobi Kazoku no Wa (よろこび家族の和).

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1087178.stm "Foot-reader fined for fraud", BBC]
* [http://www.salon.com/travel/planet/2000/05/09/toes/ "Japanese court throws book at foot cult", Salon]
* [http://hss.fullerton.edu/comparative/Ho-no-hana_articles.htm "Edited articles on the "Foot Cult" of Japan", Fullerton]
* [http://www.yorokobikazoku.com/ Yorokobi Kazoku no Wa] (Japanese)