Koizumi urges cult not to inconvenience others

Kyodo News in Japan Today/May 8, 2003

Tokyo -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday urged a white-robed doomsday group "not to cause inconvenience to other people," as its caravan of vehicles stopped once again on its journey through central Japan, this time on a sightseeing road in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture.

"Why do people believe in things said by such a group?" Koizumi said in response to reporters' questions at his office. "I would like groups, whatever kind, not to cause inconvenience to local areas and other people."