The statement upheld the authority of the Anglican church's episcopacy and Apostolic succession and highlighted, among other reasons for rejecting the government proposal, the failure of Kyodan to adopt the Apostles Creed as one of its main theological tenets.
[2] The cost of resistance to and non-cooperation with the government's religious policies was public criticism by prominent lay and ordained members of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, harassment by the military police and periods of imprisonment for church leaders such as Sasaki, as well as Bishops Samuel Heaslett and Todomu Sugai.
The Nippon Sei Ko Kai, reflecting on the legacy of Bishop Sasaki, the Japanese occupation of China and Korea, actions during wartime and the challenge of maintaining authentic Christian witness in the face of nationalist government policy, adopted a formal Statement of War Responsibility at its General Synod in 1996.
Since its establishment, the Nippon Sei Ko Kai has been making compromises with the idea of a Tenno (God of Heaven) ruled nation and militarism which go against the Gospel and has not been able to resist strongly against, or refuse those principles.
[The Nippon Sei Ko Kai] "confesses to God and apologizes to the people in Asia and the Pacific that we did not admit our fault immediately after the end of the war, and have not actively called for reconciliation and compensation until today."