Short toes, short temper? Fat toes, you win the New Jersey lottery? Are your feet your fortune or your downfall? At least that's what followers of a foot cult in Japan were led to believe as Japanese police arrested leaders of a religious cult, Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo, headquartered in Tokyo, who were claiming they could cure diseases and dictate fates and fortunes by examining feet. Hogen Fukunaga, leader of the cult, was arrested by police at the cult's headquarters Tuesday. Fukunaga, 55, has denied the charges that his organization defrauded thousands of followers. Just the opposite. Fukunaga claims that the shape of people's feet reveal their personalities. However, Fukunaga's arrest comes 11 days after a Japanese court ruled that Ho-no-Hana had defrauded some of its members, who were warned that they would die or get cancer unless they had the soles of their feet inspected by Fukunaga. The cult was ordered to pay 27 former followers $2.12 million in damages. In four years time more than a 1,000 cult members have filed lawsuits seeking $50 million in damages.
Japan says it's considering revoking Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo's legal right to remain a religious organization. Rumors have it that the cult may flee to Seoul, Korea.
