Aleph (religion)
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, formerly , is a Japanese
doomsday cult A doomsday cult is a cult, that believes in apocalypticism and millenarianism, including both those that predict disaster and those that attempt to destroy the entire universe. Sociologist John Lofland coined the term ''doomsday cult'' in his ...
founded by
Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
in 1987. It carried out the deadly
Tokyo subway sarin attack The was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on 20 March 1995, in Tokyo, Japan, by members of the cult movement Aum Shinrikyo. In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on three lines of the Tokyo Metro (then ''Teito Rapi ...
in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the
Matsumoto sarin attack The Matsumoto sarin attack was an attempted assassination perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan on the night of June 27, 1994. Eight people were killed
the previous year. The group says that those who carried out attacks did so secretly, without being known to other executives and ordinary believers. Asahara insisted on his innocence in a radio broadcast relayed from Russia and directed toward
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. On 6 July 2018, after exhausting all appeals, Asahara and six followers were executed as a punishment for the 1995 attacks and other crimes, and the remaining six on death row were executed on 26 July. At 12:10 am, on New Year's Day 2019, at least nine people were injured (one seriously) when a car was deliberately driven into crowds celebrating the new year on
Takeshita Street is a pedestrian shopping street lined with fashion boutiques, cafes and restaurants in Harajuku in Tokyo, Japan. Stores on Takeshita Street include major chains such as The Body Shop, McDonald's, and 7-Eleven, but most of the businesses are s ...
in Tokyo. Local police reported the arrest of Kazuhiro Kusakabe, the suspected driver, who allegedly admitted to intentionally ramming his vehicle into crowds to protest his opposition to the death penalty, specifically in retaliation for the execution of the aforementioned Aum cult members. Aum Shinrikyo, which split into Aleph and
Hikari no Wa ''Hikari no Wa'' or ''The Circle of Rainbow Light'' (光の輪, literally "Circle of Light") is a Japanese new religious movement started in 2007. It was founded by , the previous spokesperson and public relations manager of the Japanese Buddhis ...
in 2007, had already been formally designated a terrorist organization by several countries, including
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,
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,
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
, as well as the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. It was previously designated by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
as a terrorist organization until 2022, when the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
determined the group to be largely defunct as a terrorist organization. The
Public Security Intelligence Agency The is the national intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice in the government of Japan, and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based on the Subversive A ...
considered Aleph and Hikari no Wa to be branches of a "dangerous religion"
National Police Agency (Japan) The is a law enforcement agency under the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office. It is the central agency of the Japanese police system, and the central coordinating agency of law enforcement in situations of national emerge ...
(2009), , GYOSEI Corporation, pg. 160.
and it announced in January 2015 that they would remain under surveillance for three more years. The Tokyo District Court canceled the extension to surveillance of Hikari no Wa in 2017 following legal challenges from the group, but continued to keep Aleph under watch. The government appealed the cancellation, and in February 2019, the Tokyo High Court overturned the lower court's decision, reinstating the surveillance, citing no major changes between Aum Shinrikyo and Hikari no Wa.


Doctrine

Shinrikyo Aum is a
syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
belief system that draws upon Asahara's idiosyncratic interpretations of elements of early
Indian Buddhism Buddhism is an ancient Indian religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar, India), and is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha who was deemed a "Buddha" ("Awakened One"), although Buddhist doctrine ...
and
Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
, as well as
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
, taking
Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
as the main image of worship; it also incorporates
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
millennialist Millennialism (from millennium, Latin for "a thousand years") or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief advanced by some religious denominations that a Golden Age or Paradise will occur on Earth prior to the final judgment and future ...
ideas, the theory and practice of
yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
, and the writings of
Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection o ...
. Its founder,
Chizuo Matsumoto , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
, claimed that he sought to restore "original Buddhism" but employed Christian millennialist rhetoric. In 1992, Matsumoto, who had changed his name to
Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
, published a foundational book, declaring himself to be "
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
", Japan's only fully enlightened master, as well as identifying himself as the "
Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...
". Asahara's purported mission was to take upon himself the
sins In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
of the world, and he claimed he could transfer spiritual power to his followers and ultimately take away their sins and bad deeds. While some reject Aum Shinrikyo's claims of Buddhist characteristics and affiliations with
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, other scholars refer to it as an offshoot of
Japanese Buddhism Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a ...
, and this was how the movement generally defined and saw itself. According to
Robert Jay Lifton Robert Jay Lifton (born May 16, 1926) is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of ...
, an American psychiatrist and author: Humanity would end, except for the elite few who joined Aum. Aum's mission was not only to spread the word of
salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
, but also to survive these
End Times Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negati ...
. Asahara predicted the gathering at Armageddon would happen in 1997. Kaplan notes that in his lectures, Shoko Asahara referred to the United States as " The Beast" from the Book of Revelation, predicting it would eventually attack Japan. Asahara outlined a doomsday prophecy, which included a
Third World War World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...
instigated by the U.S. Arthur Goldwag, author of a book on conspiracies and secret societies, characterizes Asahara as someone who was influenced by conspiratorial writings about
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
and the British royal family. In the opinion of Daniel A. Metraux, Aum Shinrikyo justified its violence through its own unique interpretation of Buddhist ideas and doctrines, such as the Buddhist concepts of ''Mappō'' and ''Shōbō''. Aum claimed that by bringing about the end of the world, they would restore ''Shōbō''. Furthermore, Lifton believes, Asahara "interpreted the Tibetan Buddhist concept of ''
phowa ''Phowa'' (, ) is a tantric practice found in both Hinduism and Buddhism. It may be described as "transference of consciousness at the time of death", "mindstream transference", "the practice of conscious dying", or "enlightenment without medita ...
'' in order to claim that by killing someone contrary to the group's aims, they were preventing them from accumulating bad karma and thus saving them". The name , usually rendered in English as "Aum Supreme Truth", derives from the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
syllable ''
Aum ''Om'' (or ''Aum'') (; sa, ॐ, ओम्, Ōṃ, translit-std=IAST) is a sacred sound, syllable, mantra, or an invocation in Hinduism. ''Om'' is the prime symbol of Hinduism.Krishna Sivaraman (2008), ''Hindu Spirituality Vedas Through Ved ...
'', used to represent
the universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Ac ...
, followed by the
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
''Shinrikyo'' (meaning, roughly, "Teaching of Truth") written in
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...
. (In Japanese, kanji are often used to write both
Sino-xenic Sino-Xenic or Sinoxenic pronunciations are regular systems for reading Chinese characters in Japan, Korea and Vietnam, originating in medieval times and the source of large-scale borrowings of Chinese words into the Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese ...
and native Japanese words, but only rarely to transcribe direct borrowings from other languages.) In January 2000, the organization changed its name to "Aleph", a reference to the first letter of the
Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet ( he, wikt:אלפבית, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew languag ...
, and it also replaced its logo.


History

The movement was founded by
Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
in his one-bedroom apartment in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
's
Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...
ward in 1987, starting off as a
yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
and
meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
class known as and steadily grew in the following years. It gained official status as a
religious organization Religious activities generally need some infrastructure to be conducted. For this reason, there generally exist religion-supporting organizations, which are some form of organization that manages: * the upkeep of places of worship, such as ...
in 1989 and attracted a considerable number of graduates from Japan's elite universities, thus being dubbed a "religion for the elite".


Early activities

Although Aum was, from the beginning, considered controversial in Japan, it was not initially associated with serious crimes. It was during this period that Asahara became obsessed with
Biblical prophecies Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from G ...
. Aum's public relations activities included publishing comics and animated cartoons that attempted to tie its religious ideas to popular
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
and
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
themes, including space missions, powerful weapons, world conspiracies, and the quest for ultimate truth. Aum published several magazines including ''
Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
Sacca'' and ''Enjoy Happiness'', adopting a somewhat missionary attitude.
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
's science fiction ''
Foundation Trilogy The ''Foundation'' series is a science fiction book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. First published as a series of short stories in 1942–50, and subsequently in three collections in 1951–53, for thirty years the series was ...
'' was referenced "depicting as it does an elite group of spiritually evolved scientists forced to go underground during an age of barbarism so as to prepare themselves for the moment...when they will emerge to rebuild civilization". Lifton posited that Aum's publications used Christian and Buddhist ideas to impress what he considered to be the more shrewd and educated Japanese who were not attracted to boring, purely traditional
sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...
s. In private, both Asahara and his top disciples reportedly continued their humble lifestyles, the only exception being the armored
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
gifted by a wealthy follower. Advertising and recruitment activities, dubbed the "Aum Salvation plan", included claims of curing physical illnesses with health improvement techniques, realizing life goals by improving intelligence and positive thinking, and concentrating on what was important at the expense of leisure. This was to be accomplished by practicing ancient teachings, accurately translated from original
Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...
s (these three were referred to as "threefold salvation"). These efforts resulted in Aum becoming one of the fastest-growing religious groups in Japan's history. David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall, in their 1996 book, ''The Cult at the End of the World: The Terrifying Story of the Aum Doomsday Cult, from the Subways of Tokyo to the Nuclear Arsenals of Russia'', claim that its practices remained secret. Initiation rituals, assert the authors of the book, often involved the use of
hallucinogen Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...
s, such as
LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
. Religious practices often involved extremely ascetic practices claimed to be "yoga". These included everything from renunciants being hung upside down to being given
shock therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive the ...
.


Incidents before 1995

The
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
started attracting controversy in the late 1980s with accusations of deception of recruits, holding cult members against their will, forcing members to donate money and murdering a cult member who tried to leave in February 1989. In October 1989, the group's negotiations with
Tsutsumi Sakamoto On November 5, 1989, Tsutsumi Sakamoto (坂本 堤 ''Sakamoto Tsutsumi'' April 6, 1956 – November 5, 1989), a lawyer working on a class action lawsuit against Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult in Japan, was murdered, along with his wife Satoko and ...
, an
anti-cult The anti-cult movement (abbreviated ACM, and also known as the countercult movement) consists of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that seek to raise awareness of cults, uncover coercive practices used to a ...
lawyer threatening a
lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
against them which could potentially bankrupt the group, failed. In the same month, Sakamoto recorded an interview for a talk show on the Japanese TV station TBS. The network then had the interview secretly shown to the group without notifying Sakamoto, intentionally breaking
protection of sources Source protection, sometimes also referred to as source confidentiality or in the U.S. as the reporter's privilege, is a right accorded to journalists under the laws of many countries, as well as under international law. It prohibits authorities, i ...
. The group then pressured TBS to cancel the broadcast. The following month Sakamoto, his wife and his child went missing from their home in
Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
. The police were unable to resolve the case at the time, although some of his colleagues publicly voiced their suspicions of the group. It was not until after the 1995 Tokyo attack that they were found to have been
murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
and their bodies dumped in separate locations by cult members. Kaplan and Marshall allege in their book that Aum was also connected with such activities as
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
. The group, authors report, "commonly took patients into its hospitals and then forced them to pay exorbitant medical bills". The cult is known to have considered
assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
s of several individuals critical of the cult, such as the heads of Buddhist sects
Soka Gakkai is a Japanese Buddhist religious movement based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese priest Nichiren as taught by its first three presidents Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, Jōsei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda. It is the largest of the Japanese ...
and The Institute for Research in Human Happiness. After cartoonist
Yoshinori Kobayashi is a Japanese manga artist known for his controversial political commentary manga '' Gōmanism Sengen''. Life A student of French literature from Fukuoka University, Kobayashi published his first manga, ''Tōdai Itchokusen'' (東大一直 ...
began satirizing the cult, he was included on Aum's assassination list. An assassination attempt was made on Kobayashi in 1993. In July 1993, cult members sprayed large amounts of liquid containing ''
Bacillus anthracis ''Bacillus anthracis'' is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent ( obligate) pathogen within the genus ''Bacillus''. Its infection is a ...
'' spores from a cooling tower on the roof of Aum Shinrikyo's Tokyo headquarters. However, their plan to cause an
anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
epidemic failed. The attack resulted in a large number of complaints about bad odors but no infections. At the end of 1993, the cult started secretly manufacturing the nerve agent
sarin Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.VX. Aum tested its sarin on sheep at
Banjawarn Station Banjawarn Station is a remote cattle station in Western Australia, that previously operated as a sheep station. In the 1990s Banjawarn was owned by the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, and following the Tokyo subway attack was the subject ...
, a remote pastoral property in
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, killing 29 sheep. Both sarin and VX were then used in several assassinations (and attempts) over 1994–95. On the night of 27 June 1994, the cult carried out a
chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
s attack against civilians when they released sarin in the central Japanese city of
Matsumoto Matsumoto (松本 or 松元, "base of the pine tree") may refer to: Places * Matsumoto, Nagano (松本市), a city ** Matsumoto Airport, an airport southwest of Matsumoto, Nagano * Matsumoto, Kagoshima (松元町), a former town now part of the c ...
,
Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...
. With the help of a converted
refrigerator truck A refrigerator truck or chiller lorry (also called a Reefer), is a van or truck designed to carry perishable freight at low temperatures. Most long-distance refrigerated transport by truck is done in articulated trucks pulling refrigerated sem ...
, members of the cult released a cloud of sarin which floated near the homes of judges who were overseeing a lawsuit concerning a real-estate dispute which was predicted to go against the cult. This
Matsumoto incident The Matsumoto sarin attack was an attempted assassination perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan on the night of June 27, 1994. Eight people were killed
killed eight and harmed 500 more. Police investigations focused only on an innocent local resident, Yoshiyuki Kouno, and failed to implicate the cult at the time. It was only after the Tokyo subway attack that Aum Shinrikyo was discovered to be behind the Matsumoto sarin attack. At the end of 1994, the cult broke-into the Hiroshima factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in an attempt to steal technical documents on military weapons such as tanks and artillery. In December 1994 and January 1995,
Masami Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician, coming to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the group Ippu-Do. His subsequent output includes solo work and collaborations. Tsuchiya's career in music started with ...
of Aum Shinrikyo synthesized 100 to 200 grams of VX which was used to attack three people. Two people were injured and a 28-year-old man was killed. He is believed to be the first fully documented victim of VX. The VX victim, who
Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
had suspected was a spy, was attacked at 7:00 a.m. on 12 December 1994, on the street in
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
by
Tomomitsu Niimi was an Aum Shinrikyo member convicted for his participation in the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and a number of other crimes. He was Aum's "minister of internal affairs". Background Judge Yujiro Nakatani said that his Aum-related crim ...
and another Aum member, who sprinkled the nerve agent on his neck. He chased them for about before collapsing, dying 10 days later without coming out of a deep coma. Doctors in the hospital suspected at the time he had been poisoned with an
organophosphate In organic chemistry, organophosphates (also known as phosphate esters, or OPEs) are a class of organophosphorus compounds with the general structure , a central phosphate molecule with alkyl or aromatic substituents. They can be considered a ...
pesticide. But the cause of death was pinned down only after cult members arrested for the subway attack in Tokyo in March 1995 confessed to the killing. Ethyl methylphosphonate, methylphosphonic acid, and diisopropyl-2-(methylthio) ethylamine were later found in the body of the victim. Unlike the cases for
sarin Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.Matsumoto incident The Matsumoto sarin attack was an attempted assassination perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan on the night of June 27, 1994. Eight people were killed
and Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway), VX was not used for mass murder. In February 1995, several cult members kidnapped Kiyoshi Kariya, a 69-year-old brother of a member who had escaped, from a Tokyo street and took him to a compound in Kamikuishiki near
Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...
, where he was killed. His corpse was destroyed in a
microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...
-powered incinerator and the remnants disposed of in
Lake Kawaguchi is located in the town of Fujikawaguchiko in southern Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji, Japan. It is the second largest of the Fuji Five Lakes in terms of surface area, and is located at the lowest elevation. It is situated at an altitude of ...
. Before Kariya was abducted, he had been receiving threatening phone calls demanding to know the whereabouts of his sister, and he had left a note saying, "If I disappear, I was abducted by Aum Shinrikyo". Police made plans to simultaneously raid cult facilities across Japan in March 1995. Prosecutors alleged Asahara was tipped off about this and that he ordered the Tokyo subway attack to divert police. Meanwhile, Aum had also attempted to manufacture 1,000 assault rifles, but only completed one. According to the testimony of Kenichi Hirose at the Tokyo District Court in 2000, Asahara wanted the group to be self-sufficient in manufacturing copies of the Soviet Union's main infantry weapon, the
AK-74 The AK-74 (Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974) is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974. While primarily associated with the Soviet U ...
; one rifle was smuggled into Japan, to be studied so that Aum could
reverse engineer Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
and mass-produce the AK-74. Police seized AK-74 components and blueprints from a vehicle used by an Aum member on April 6, 1995.


Tokyo subway sarin attack and related incidents

On the morning of 20 March 1995, Aum members released a
binary chemical weapon __NOTOC__ Binary chemical weapons or munitions are chemical weapons which contain the toxic agent in its active state as chemical precursors that are significantly less toxic than the agent. This improves the safety of storing, transporting, and di ...
, most closely chemically similar to sarin, in a coordinated attack on five trains in the
Tokyo subway The is a part of the extensive rapid transit system that consists of Tokyo Metro and the Toei Subway in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, the Greater Tokyo area of Japan. While the subway system itself is largely within the city center, the lines exten ...
system, killing 13 commuters, seriously injuring 54 and affecting 980 more. Some estimates claim as many as 6,000 people were injured by the sarin. It is difficult to obtain exact numbers since many victims are reluctant to come forward. Prosecutors allege that Asahara was tipped off by an insider about planned police raids on cult facilities and ordered an attack in central Tokyo to divert police attention away from the group. The attack evidently backfired, and police conducted huge simultaneous raids on cult compounds across the country. Over the next week, the full scale of Aum's activities was revealed for the first time. At the cult's headquarters in Kamikuishiki on the foot of
Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...
, police found explosives, chemical weapons, and a Russian
Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...
military helicopter. While the finding of
biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Bio ...
agents such as
anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
and
Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
cultures Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
was reported, those claims now appear to have been widely exaggerated. There were stockpiles of chemicals that could be used for producing enough sarin to kill four million people. Police also found laboratories to manufacture drugs such as
LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
,
methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...
, and a crude form of
truth serum "Truth serum" is a colloquial name for any of a range of psychoactive drugs used in an effort to obtain information from subjects who are unable or unwilling to provide it otherwise. These include ethanol, scopolamine, 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate ...
, a safe containing millions of U.S. dollars in cash and gold, and cells, many still containing prisoners. During the raids, Aum issued statements claiming that the chemicals were for fertilizers. Over the next six weeks, over 150 cult members were arrested for a variety of offenses. The media was stationed outside Aum's Tokyo headquarters on Komazawa Dori in Aoyama for months after the attack and arrests waiting for action and to get images of the cult's other members. On 30 March 1995, Takaji Kunimatsu, chief of the
National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: Cuban National Police *East Timor: National Police of E ...
, was shot four times near his house in Tokyo and was seriously wounded. While many suspected Aum involvement in the shooting, the ''
Sankei Shimbun The (short for ) is a daily newspaper in Japan published by the It has the seventh-highest circulation for regional newspapers in Japan. Among Japanese newspapers, the circulation is second only to ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', Seikyo Shimbun, ''Asah ...
'' reported that Hiroshi Nakamura is suspected of the crime, but nobody has been charged. On 23 April 1995,
Hideo Murai Hideo Murai (村井 秀夫 ''Murai Hideo'', December 5, 1958 – April 23, 1995) was a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult and one of the perpetrators responsible for the Sakamoto family murder. Murai held a doctorate in astrophysics. He was reported ...
, the head of Aum's Ministry of Science, was stabbed to death outside the cult's Tokyo headquarters amidst a crowd of about 100 reporters, in front of cameras. The man responsible, a Korean member of
Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest ''yakuza'' organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest criminal organizations i ...
, was arrested and eventually convicted of the murder. His motive remains unknown. On the evening of 5 May, a burning paper bag was discovered in a toilet in Tokyo's busy
Shinjuku station is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busiest rai ...
. Upon examination it was revealed that it was a
hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ...
device which, had it not been extinguished in time, would have released enough gas into the ventilation system to potentially kill 10,000 commuters. On 4 July, several undetonated cyanide devices were found at other locations in the Tokyo subway. During this time, numerous cult members were arrested for various offenses, but arrests of the most senior members on the charge of the subway gassing had not yet taken place. In June, an individual unrelated to Aum had launched a copycat attack by hijacking
All Nippon Airways Flight 857 All Nippon Airways Flight 857 was a scheduled flight from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Hakodate Airport that was hijacked by a lone individual on June 21, 1995. The aircraft was boarded by police the next morning following an over-night standoff, in th ...
, a Boeing 747 bound for Hakodate from Tokyo. The hijacker claimed to be an Aum member in possession of sarin and plastic explosives, but these claims were ultimately found to be false. Asahara was finally found hiding within a wall of a cult building known as "The 6th Satian" in the Kamikuishiki complex on 16 May and was arrested. On the same day, the cult mailed a parcel bomb to the office of
Yukio Aoshima was a Japanese politician who served as Governor of Tokyo from 1995 to 1999. He is also well known as a TV actor, novelist, film director, screenwriter and songwriter. Early life and artistic career Yukio was born in Nihonbashi ward of Tok ...
, the governor of Tokyo, blowing off the fingers of his secretary's hand. Asahara was initially charged with 23 counts of murder and 16 other offenses. The trial, dubbed "the trial of the century" by the press, ruled Asahara guilty of masterminding the attack and sentenced him to death. The indictment was appealed unsuccessfully. A number of senior members accused of participation, such as Masami Tsuchiya, also received death sentences. The reasons why a small circle of mostly senior Aum members committed atrocities and the extent of personal involvement by Asahara remain unclear, although several theories have attempted to explain these events. In response to the prosecution's charge that Asahara ordered the subway attacks to distract authorities, the defense maintained that Asahara was not aware of events, pointing to his deteriorating health. Shortly after his arrest, Asahara abandoned his post as the organization's leader, and maintained silence afterward, refusing to communicate even with lawyers and family members.


After 1995

On 21 June 1995, Asahara acknowledged that in January 1994 he ordered the killing of a sect member, Kotaro Ochida, a pharmacist at an Aum hospital. Ochida, who tried to escape from a sect compound, was held down and strangled by another Aum member who was allegedly told that he too would be killed if he did not strangle Ochida. On 10 October 1995, Aum Shinrikyo was ordered stripped of its official status as a "religious
legal entity In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...
" and was declared bankrupt in early 1996. However, the group continues to operate under the constitutional guarantee of
freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
, funded by a successful computer business and donations, and under strict
surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
. Attempts to ban the group altogether under the 1952 Subversive Activities Prevention Law were rejected by the Public Security Examination Commission in January 1997. The group underwent a number of transformations in the aftermath of Asahara's arrest and trial. For a brief time, Asahara's two preteen sons officially replaced him as guru. It re-grouped under the new name "Aleph" in February 2000. It announced a change in doctrine: religious texts related to controversial
Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
Buddhist doctrines and the Bible were removed. The group apologized to the victims of the sarin gas attack and established a special compensation fund. Provocative publications and activities that alarmed society are no longer published.
Fumihiro Joyu is a former spokesperson and public relations manager of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, and served as the ''de facto'' chief of the organization from 1999 to 2007, when he split and formed a new group. Background Fumihiro Joyu, orig ...
, one of the few senior leaders of the group under Asahara who did not face serious charges, became official head of the organization in 1999. Kōki Ishii, a legislator who formed an anti-Aum committee in the
National Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...
in 1999, was murdered in 2002. For over 15 years, only three fugitives were being actively sought. At 11:50 p.m. on 31 December 2011, Makoto Hirata surrendered himself to the police and was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the 1995 abduction of Kiyoshi Kariya, a non-member who had died during an Aum kidnapping and interrogation. On 3 June 2012, police captured Naoko Kikuchi, the second fugitive, acting on a tip from local residents. Acting on information from the capture of Kikuchi, including recent photographs showing a modified appearance, the last remaining fugitive, Katsuya Takahashi, was captured on 15 June 2012. He is said to have been the driver in the Tokyo gas attack and was caught in Tokyo, having been on the run for 17 years. On 6 July 2018, Asahara and six other Aum Shinrikyo members were executed by
hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
. Japan's Justice Minister
Yōko Kamikawa , is a Japan, Japanese politician and former think tank researcher who served as the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice from September 2020 to October 2021. Kamikawa previously served as Minister of State for Gender Equality and So ...
stated that the crimes "plunged people, not only in Japan but in other countries as well, into deadly fear and shook society to its core."
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
criticized use of the death penalty in the case. While executions are rare in Japan, they have public support according to surveys. There were 13 members on death row at the time: Aum Shinrikyo members executed on 6 July 2018: *
Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
, leader of Aum Shinrikyo *
Yoshihiro Inoue was a former Aum Shinrikyo leader and terrorist who was executed in Japan in 2018. He was responsible for coordinating the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995. His holy name was Aananda and his stage in the cult was Master Shogo. Biography Inoue ...
, Aum's "head of intelligence" and chief coordinator of the Tokyo subway attack *
Tomomitsu Niimi was an Aum Shinrikyo member convicted for his participation in the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and a number of other crimes. He was Aum's "minister of internal affairs". Background Judge Yujiro Nakatani said that his Aum-related crim ...
, the getaway driver for
Ikuo Hayashi is a former Aum Shinrikyo member convicted for his participation in the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Background Prior to joining Aum, Hayashi was a senior medical doctor with "an active 'front-line' track record" at the Japanese Mi ...
, one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway attack * Tomomasa Nakagawa, a perpetrator of the
Sakamoto family murder On November 5, 1989, Tsutsumi Sakamoto (坂本 堤 ''Sakamoto Tsutsumi'' April 6, 1956 – November 5, 1989), a lawyer working on a class action lawsuit against Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult in Japan, was murdered, along with his wife Satoko and ...
*
Kiyohide Hayakawa was a member and deputy leaderChicago Tribune, April 19, 1995, evening update of the Japanese doomsday-cult group Aum Shinrikyo. Hayakawa was born in Hyōgo Prefecture in 1949. After Aum Shinrikyo adopted a "ministry system", he was the Minister ...
, Aum's "construction minister", convicted of strangling a young cult member in 1989 suspected of dissidence *
Seiichi Endo was an Aum Shinrikyo member who was executed for his participation in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack and a number of other crimes. He was the man who produced the Sarin gas for the attack after leader Shoko Asahara told him to do so. Ea ...
, the "head scientist" of Aum Shinrikyo *
Masami Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician, coming to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the group Ippu-Do. His subsequent output includes solo work and collaborations. Tsuchiya's career in music started with ...
, Aum Shinrikyo's chief chemist and director of the sarin gas manufacturing The six remaining Aum Shinrikyo members were executed on 26 July 2018. * Yasuo Hayashi, a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack *
Kenichi Hirose was a member of the Japanese doomsday-cult group Aum Shinrikyo who was convicted and executed for murder during the Tokyo subway sarin attack. Early life Born in 1964, Hirose was an outstanding student in his early years. In 1983, Hirose was ad ...
, a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack * Toru Toyoda, a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack *
Masato Yokoyama The was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on 20 March 1995, in Tokyo, Japan, by members of the cult movement Aum Shinrikyo. In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on three lines of the Tokyo Metro (then ''Teito Rapid ...
, a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack *
Kazuaki Okazaki was a Japanese convicted multiple murderer and former member of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo who co-perpetrated the Sakamoto family murder and another murder in 1989. Immediately after the Sakamoto murders, he abandoned the cult and turned him ...
, a perpetrator of the Sakamoto family murder *
Satoro Hashimoto On November 5, 1989, Tsutsumi Sakamoto (坂本 堤 ''Sakamoto Tsutsumi'' April 6, 1956 – November 5, 1989), a lawyer working on a class action lawsuit against Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult in Japan, was murdered, along with his wife Satoko and ...
, a perpetrator of the Sakamoto family murder Shoko Asahara's ashes will be collected by his youngest daughter according to his will. She urged her relatives and cult members to "put an end to the Aum and stop hating society". The ashes will be kept at the detention center for the time being for fears of reprisals from other elements of the cult.


Subsequent activities

250px, Aleph According to a June 2005 report by the
National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: Cuban National Police *East Timor: National Police of E ...
, Aleph had approximately 1,650 members, of whom 650 lived communally in compounds. The group operated 26 facilities in 17
prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
, and about 120 residential facilities. An article in the ''
Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...
'' newspaper on 11 September 2002 showed that the Japanese public still mistrusts Aleph, and compounds are usually surrounded by protest banners from local residents.


Monitoring

In January 2000, the group was placed under surveillance for a period of three years under an anti-Aum law, in which the group was required to submit a list of members and details of assets to the authorities. In the same year, a Russian member was arrested for plotting a bombing attack as part of a plan to rescue Asahara from police custody. In January 2003, Japan's
Public Security Intelligence Agency The is the national intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice in the government of Japan, and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based on the Subversive A ...
received permission to extend the surveillance for another three years, as they found evidence which suggested that the group still revered Asahara. According to the Religious News Blog report issued in April 2004, the authorities still considered the group "a threat to society". On 15 September 2006, Shoko Asahara lost his final appeal against the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. The following day Japanese police raided the offices of Aleph in order to "prevent any illegal activities by cult members in response to the confirmation of Asahara's death sentence". Thirteen cult members were eventually sentenced to death.


Split

On 8 March 2007,
Fumihiro Joyu is a former spokesperson and public relations manager of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, and served as the ''de facto'' chief of the organization from 1999 to 2007, when he split and formed a new group. Background Fumihiro Joyu, orig ...
, former Aum Shinrikyo spokesman and head of Aum's
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
operation, formally announced a long-expected split. Joyu's group, called ''
Hikari no Wa ''Hikari no Wa'' or ''The Circle of Rainbow Light'' (光の輪, literally "Circle of Light") is a Japanese new religious movement started in 2007. It was founded by , the previous spokesperson and public relations manager of the Japanese Buddhis ...
'' ("The Circle of Light"), claims to be committed to uniting science and religion and creating "the new science of the human mind", having previously aimed to move the group away from its criminal history and toward its spiritual roots. In April 2011, the Public Security Intelligence Agency stated that Aum had about 1,500 members. In July 2011, the cult reported its membership as 1,030. The group was reportedly active in trying to recruit new members via social media and proselytizing on college campuses. Japan's Public Security Examination Commission announced in January 2015 that Aum Shinrikyo's two spinoffs would remain under surveillance for three more years starting 1 February 2015.


Admirers

In 2014, ''
The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'' alleged that "good looks and commitment to a cause", demonstrated by Aleph, "inspire a new generation of admirers". Dissatisfaction with society and low degrees of success in life make them "identify with the cult" and "adore the cultists as if they were pop idols".


2013 investigation and media coverage

Sometime after April 2013, the
Public Security Intelligence Agency The is the national intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice in the government of Japan, and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based on the Subversive A ...
took a photograph inside of Aleph's facilities. In this photograph, a bundle of papers is pierced with a knife on an
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
-like object. The papers included photographs of PSIA employees and directors, police officers, and lawyer Taro Takimoto, who helped followers leave Aum Shinrikyo. At least at this point in time, Aleph still displayed portraits of Shoko Asahara and demanded followers' dependence using videos of Asahara.


2016 Russian crackdown

On 5 April 2016, the
Investigative Committee of Russia The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Следственный комитет Российской Федерации) has since January 2011 been the main federal investigating authority in Russia. Its name (' ...
announced it opened a criminal case against Aum Shinrikyo followers and that its investigators, along with
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
(FSB) forces, were conducting raids in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to find them and confiscate literature, religious items and electronic information. On 20 September 2016, the Russian government banned Aum Shinrikyo in the country, declaring it a terrorist organization.


2017 Aleph raids

In November 2017, Japanese police raided five offices of Aleph in an investigation into the group's recruiting practices after a woman paid tens of thousands of yen for study sessions.


2019 Tokyo car attack

On 1 January 2019, in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Aum sympathizer Kazuhiro Kusakabe told authorities he intentionally rammed into pedestrians crowded into narrow
Takeshita Street is a pedestrian shopping street lined with fashion boutiques, cafes and restaurants in Harajuku in Tokyo, Japan. Stores on Takeshita Street include major chains such as The Body Shop, McDonald's, and 7-Eleven, but most of the businesses are s ...
in
Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refer ...
district as a terrorist attack in "retaliation for an execution". It remains unclear whether he was referencing the 2018 executions of Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult members directly or making a broader statement. The attack, on
New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
, left eight injured. A ninth person was also directly injured by the driver.


See also

*
Governmental lists of cults and sects The application of the labels "cults" or "sects" to (for example) religious movements in government documents usually signifies the popular and negative use of the term "cult" in English and a functionally similar use of words translated as "sect ...
*
List of Buddha claimants This is a list of notable people who have claimed to have attained enlightenment and become buddhas, claimed to be manifestations of bodhisattvas, identified themselves as Gautama Buddha or Maitreya Buddha, or been honored as buddhas or bodhisatt ...
*
List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events Predictions of apocalyptic events that would result in the extinction of humanity, a collapse of civilization, or the destruction of the planet have been made since at least the beginning of the Common Era. Most predictions are related to Ab ...
*
List of designated terrorist groups A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...
*
List of messiah claimants This is a list of notable people who have been said to be a messiah, either by themselves or by their followers. The list is divided into categories, which are sorted according to date of birth (where known). Jewish messiah claimants In Judaism, ...
*
List of new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM) is a religious, ethical, or spiritual group or community with practices of relatively modern origins. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may exist on the fringes of a wider religion, in which case they will be dis ...
*
List of people claimed to be Jesus This is a partial list of notable people who have been claimed, either by themselves or by their followers, to be the reincarnation or incarnation of Jesus, or the Second Coming of Christ. 18th century * Kondratiy Selivanov (c. 1730s–18 ...
*
Yoshihiro Yasuda Yoshihiro Yasuda (安田 好弘 ''Yasuda Yoshihiro'', born December 4, 1947) is a famed and controversial lawyer in Japan who is known for his anti-death penalty activism. With the death penalty being a prominent method of prosecution in the Japa ...
, a lawyer who represented Shoko Asahara *
Masaki Kito is a Japanese attorney at law who specializes in consumer affairs, Securities fraud, investment frauds and cases involving Cult, religious cults, especially Aum Shinrikyo, Aleph (formerly known as Aum Shinrikyo) and Unification church. He regular ...
, a lawyer who represents Aum victims *
Cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
*
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
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New religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...
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Sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...
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Religious terrorism Religious terrorism is a type of religious violence where terrorism is used as a strategy to achieve certain religious goals or which are influenced by religious beliefs and/or identity. In the modern age, after the decline of ideas such as the ...
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Religious violence Religious violence covers phenomena in which religion is either the subject or the object of violent behavior. All the religions of the world contain narratives, symbols, and metaphors of violence and war. Religious violence is violence that ...
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Buddhism and violence Buddhist scripture condemns violence in every form. Ahimsa, a term meaning 'not to injure', is a primary virtue in Buddhism. However, Buddhists have historically used scriptures to justify violence or form exceptions to commit violence for vario ...
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Guhyasamāja Tantra The ''Guhyasamāja Tantra'' (Sanskrit: ''Guhyasamājatantra''; Tibetan: ''Gsang ’dus rtsa rgyud'', Toh 442; ''Tantra of the Secret Society or Community''), also known as the ''Tathāgataguhyaka (Secrets of the Tathagata),'' is one of the most ...
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Schools of Buddhism The schools of Buddhism are the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism that have existed from ancient times up to the present. The classification and nature of various doctrinal, philosophical or cultural facets of the schools ...


References


Further reading

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Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
, ''Supreme Initiation: An Empirical Spiritual Science for the Supreme Truth'', 1988, AUM USA Inc., . Highlights the main stages of Yogic and Buddhist practice, comparing Yoga-sutra system by Patanjali and the Eightfold Noble Path from Buddhist tradition. *
Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
, ''Life and Death'', (Shizuoka: Aum, 1993). Focuses on the process of Kundalini-Yoga, one of the stages in Aum's practice. *
Shoko Asahara , born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
, ''Disaster Approaches the Land of the Rising Sun: Shoko Asahara's Apocalyptic Predictions'', (Shizuoka: Aum, 1995). A controversial book, later removed by Aum leadership, speaks about possible destruction of Japan. * Stefano Bonino, ''Il Caso Aum Shinrikyo: Società, Religione e Terrorismo nel Giappone Contemporaneo'', 2010, Edizioni Solfanelli, . Preface by Erica Baffelli. * Ikuo Hayashi, ''Aum to Watakushi (Aum and I)'', Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1998. Book about personal experiences by former Aum member. *
Robert Jay Lifton Robert Jay Lifton (born May 16, 1926) is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of ...
, ''Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism'', Henry Holt, , LoC BP605.088.L54, 1999 *
Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...
, '' Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche'', Vintage, , LoC BP605.O88.M8613, 2001. Interviews with victims. * ''Global Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Case Study on the Aum Shinrikyo'', SASenate Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, 31 October 1995
online
* David E. Kaplan, and Andrew Marshall, ''The Cult at the End of the World: The Terrifying Story of the Aum Doomsday Cult, from the Subways of Tokyo to the Nuclear Arsenals of Russia'', 1996, Random House, . An account of the cult from its beginnings to the aftermaths of the Tokyo subway attack, including details of facilities, weapons and other information regarding Aum's followers, activities and property. * Ian Reader, ''Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Aum Shinrikyo'', 2000, Curzon Press


External links


PSIA (Public Security Investigative Agency) report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aum Shinrikyo Religious organizations established in 1984 Japanese new religions Cults Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist 1984 establishments in Japan Terrorism in Japan Organizations formerly designated as terrorist by the United States Organisations designated as terrorist by Japan Buddhist new religious movements Organisations designated as terrorist by the European Union Apocalyptic groups Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada