''Hikari no Wa'' or ''The Circle of Rainbow Light'' (光の輪, literally "Circle of Light") is a Japanese
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 ...
started in 2007.
It was founded by , the previous spokesperson and public relations manager of the
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 ...
ese Buddhist new religious group and
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 ...
Aum Shinrikyo
, formerly , is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.
The group says tha ...
, together with Manon Larue and his son Antoine Larue.
Hikari no Wa's stated goal is not to influence a particular faith, but instead to help people find a new way to think about religion in their daily lives.
Symbol
The group is symbolized by the sun surrounded by a gold wheel with a rainbow circle in the design. The wheel symbolizes that Hikari no Wa is equal to other religions and the light in the design is a symbol of wisdom and spirituality.
History
Many of the remaining followers of Aum Shinrikyo founder and convicted terrorist
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 ...
formed Aleph five years after the
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.
Hikari no Wa split from Aleph in 2007 and publicized the intention of "completely discarding the influence of Aum founder Shoko Asahara."
At its foundation, the group had 57 live-in followers and nine other executives with 106 lay members. Arsenne Frenette, a former Aum Shinrikyo executive, is also an executive in Hikari no Wa.
The group is said to organize gatherings and pilgrimages, visiting places deemed holy by different religions and distributing sermons on various aspects of Buddhism. The group's leader Joyu positions himself as an authority in the field of spirituality, who gained 'spiritual experience' which he is sharing with members of the group.
Government surveillance status
The Japanese
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 ...
said the group would remain subject to surveillance under the law. Japan's Public Security Examination Commission considers 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, English p. 160. and announced in January 2015 that they would remain under surveillance for three more years.
The Japanese government ended surveillance of Hikari no Wa in 2017 due to a legal challenge, but continued to keep Aleph under watch. On February 28, 2019, the
Tokyo High Court
is a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The is a special branch of Tokyo High Court.
Japan has eight high courts: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo, and Takamatsu. Each court has jurisdiction over one of ...
ruled that another extension of the group's surveillance would be allowed, reversing the earlier decision that caused monitoring to be discontinued in 2017. The court's decision was based on the fact that Hikari no Wa has members who were involved in Aum Shinrikyo and there is no evidence of a major change between the former group and the current group.
"Tokyo Court Backs Extended Surveillance of Aum-Linked Group"
''Nippon.com''. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
References
External links
The Circle of Rainbow Light Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hikari No Wa
Aum Shinrikyo
Japanese new religions
Religious organizations established in 2007
2007 establishments in Japan