by Stephen Biddle He is believed to be the first fully documented victim of VX. [citation needed], 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. The attack was carried out by members of the new religious movement AUM Shinrikyo (since 2000 called Aleph) and killed 13 people and injured more than 5,000. [citation needed], 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. Kōki Ishii, a legislator who formed an anti-Aum committee in the National Diet in 1999, was murdered in 2002. Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program, A Guide to Global COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts. Chemical weapons experts say that sarin gas is five hundred times more toxic than cyanide gas. A ninth person was also directly injured by the driver. April 28, 2021 [39], In July 1993, cult members sprayed large amounts of liquid containing Bacillus anthracis spores from a cooling tower on the roof of Aum Shinrikyo's Tokyo headquarters. On 30 March 1995, Takaji Kunimatsu, chief of the National Police Agency, was shot four times near his house in Tokyo and was seriously wounded. What Is the World Doing to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines? [76] The papers included photographs of PSIA employees and directors, police officers, and lawyer Taro Takimoto, who helped followers leave Aum Shinrikyo. Investigation of the 1995 attack remained cold until 2012 when three remaining fugitives were tracked down and arrested, finally closing the chapter on the worst terrorist attack in Japan’s history. [43] Police seized AK-74 components and blueprints from a vehicle used by an Aum member on April 6, 1995. [24] Aum's mission was not only to spread the word of salvation, but also to survive these End Times. [71] Joyu's group, called Hikari no Wa ("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. [51] There were stockpiles of chemicals that could be used for producing enough sarin to kill four million people. Tokyo subway attack of 1995, coordinated terrorist attack in Tokyo on March 20, 1995, in which the nerve gas sarin was released in the city’s subway system. Most of Aum’s current 1,500 members live in Japan while about three hundred reside in Russia, says the State Department. Thirteen people were killed, and thousands were injured. To avoid falling behind the rest of the world on internet speed and access, the United States should rapidly deploy fiber-optic internet nationwide. 9/11 Newsday - September 12, 2001 Newspaper Check out the CFR Independent Task Force Report. As early as five years before the March 1995 subway attack, the group attempted to carry out at least nine biological assaults—all failed—according to a 1998 New York Times investigation. [11] 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. It is unclear who replaced Joyu as the leader of Aleph in 2007. Aum Shinrikyo conducted a deadly nerve gas attack on a Tokyo subway in 1995. オウム真理教; zu Deutsch etwa „Om-Lehre der Wahrheit“), heutiger Name Aleph (アレフ, Arefu), in der deutschsprachigen Presse häufig als Aum-Sekte bezeichnet, ist eine ursprünglich in Japan entstandene neureligiöse Gruppierung, die insbesondere in Russland stark vertreten war. Quick View. The perpetrators punctured the packages with umbrellas and left them in subway cars and stations, where they began to leak a thick liquid. [61][4] Japan's Justice Minister Yōko Kamikawa 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." [citation needed]. The group apologized to the victims of the sarin gas attack and established a special compensation fund. [66], In January 2003, Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency received permission to extend the surveillance for another three years, as they found evidence which suggested that the group still revered Asahara. Aleph (Japanese: アレフ, Hepburn: Arefu), formerly Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教, Oumu Shinrikyō), is a Japanese doomsday cult and terrorist organisation founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. Fumihiro Joyu, a former engineer who was the head of Aum’s Moscow operation, succeeded Asahara. Quick View. [citation needed], In December 1994 and January 1995, Masami Tsuchiya of Aum Shinrikyo synthesized 100 to 200 grams of VX which was used to attack three persons. Asahara broadcast his singing,[clarification needed] insisting on his innocence through a radio broadcast relayed from Russia and directed toward Japan.[2]. The trial, dubbed "the trial of the century" by the press, ruled Asahara guilty of masterminding the attack and sentenced him to death. with Gabriel A. Salguero and Moshe Hauer, U.S. State Department 2010 Country Report, The Public Should Be Warned When a Rampage Is Underway, Countering Violent Extremism: Three Moves Biden Should Make Now, Securing the Sochi Olympics: Three Things to Know, Explore More on Terrorism and Counterterrorism. [34] 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 sermons.[23]:258. Il caso Aum Shinrikyo. [80], On 1 January 2019, in Tokyo, Aum sympathizer Kazuhiro Kusakabe told authorities he intentionally rammed into pedestrians crowded into narrow Takeshita Street in Harajuku district as a terrorist attack in "retaliation for an execution". Religion and Foreign Policy Webinars, Renewing America Series: Reskilling and the Future of Work Post-Pandemic, Virtual Event [48] Prosecutors alleged Asahara was tipped off about this and that he ordered the Tokyo subway attack to divert police. Attempts to ban the group altogether under the 1952 Subversive Activities Prevention Law were rejected by the Public Security Examination Commission in January 1997. Aum Shinrikyo The Japanese cult was behind the fatal nerve agent sarin attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995. [62] There were 13 members on death row at the time: Aum Shinrikyo members executed on 6 July 2018:[61], The six remaining Aum Shinrikyo members were executed on 26 July 2018. The man responsible, a Korean member of Yamaguchi-gumi, was arrested and eventually convicted of the murder. While many suspected Aum involvement in the shooting, the Sankei Shimbun reported that Hiroshi Nakamura is suspected of the crime, but nobody has been charged. Although the early 1990s was a period of relative stability for the Unification movement, problems arose for the church in Japan following the AUM Shinrikyo incident in 1995, when the country was gripped by anticult hysteria. [67] According to the Religious News Blog report issued in April 2004, the authorities still considered the group "a threat to society". The attack, on New Year's Day, left eight injured. On 6 July 2018, after exhausting all appeals, Asahara and six followers were executed as a punishment for the 1995 attacks and other crimes,[3][4] and the remaining six on death row were executed on 26 July. The group has never confessed; they claim that those who carried out attacks did so secretly, without being known to other executives and ordinary believers. by Claire Felter Despite the image overhaul, which included changing the name to Aleph, Japanese authorities did not accept a remade Aum. [56][57][58] On 3 June 2012, police captured Naoko Kikuchi, the second fugitive, acting on a tip from local residents. With the help of a converted refrigerator truck, 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. (EN) Ian Reader, Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Aum Shinrikyō, University of Hawaii Press, 2000, ISBN 0824823400.Voci correlate. Aleph (Japanese: アレフ, Hepburn: Arefu), formerly Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教, Oumu Shinrikyō), is a Japanese doomsday cult and terrorist organisation founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. with Gabriel A. Salguero and Moshe Hauer May 4, 2021 Here is a look at the two men who led the group through the 1990s and early part of this century: During the morning rush hour on one of the world’s busiest commuter systems, Aum members put a liquid form of sarin, tightly contained in packages made to look like lunch boxes or bottled drinks, onto five cars on three separate subway lines that converged at the Kasumigaseki station, where several government ministries are located. Joyu resigned as leader of the group in 2003 because of internal friction over whether the group would continue to worship Asahara, officially establishing an offshoot, Hikari no Wa, in 2007. [24], The cult 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.[35][36]. The church was also hurt when Moon’s daughter-in-law, Nansook Hong, in 1998 wrote an exposé of life in the Moon family. Religious practices often involved extremely ascetic practices claimed to be "yoga". Whether Sakamoto's death changed Aum Shinrikyo's legal viability is a matter of debate. Aum accumulated great wealth from operating electronic businesses and restaurants, in addition to requiring members to sign their estates over to the group. After a mind-boggling eight years on trial, ... Aum Shinrikyo. [13], Shinrikyo Aum is a syncretic belief system that draws upon Asahara's idiosyncratic interpretations of elements of early Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Hinduism, taking Shiva as the main image of worship and incorporating millennialist ideas from Christianity, Yoga, and the writings of Nostradamus. Founder Chizuo Matsumoto the executed leader of Aum Shinrikyo. Initial plots failed to produce the deadly chaos that Aum wanted, although one incident in June 1993 in which Anthrax spores were released from a Tokyo building caused a foul odor in addition to the deaths of some birds, plants, and pets. [8], In April 2011, the Public Security Intelligence Agency stated that Aum had about 1,500 members. [63][64], Shoko Asahara's ashes will be collected by his youngest daughter according to his will. Only a year after the new coronavirus emerged, the first vaccines to protect against it are being administered. جينوم إيبولا فيروس الجينومات تحتوي على سبعة جينات بما في ذلك 3'-utr-np-vp35-vp40-gp-vp30-vp24-l-5'-utr. An assassination attempt was made on Kobayashi in 1993. The Aum Shinrikyo ("Supreme Truth") cult is to blame (March 20). “On April 30, the administration of pre-trial detention centre No. 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. At the center of the group’s belief is reverence for Shoko Asahara, Aum’s founder, who says that he is the first "enlightened one" since Buddha. [75], Sometime after April 2013, the Public Security Intelligence Agency took a photograph inside of Aleph's facilities. [citation needed], On the night of 27 June 1994, the cult carried out a chemical weapons attack against civilians when they released sarin in the central Japanese city of Matsumoto, Nagano. Asahara, who strove "to take over Japan and then the world," according to the State Department, was arrested in May 1995 for his role in the subway attack. Asahara preached that the end of the world was near and that Aum followers would be the only people to survive the apocalypse, which he predicted would occur in 1996 or between 1999 and 2003. [40], At the end of 1993, the cult started secretly manufacturing the nerve agent sarin and, later, VX gas. The following month Sakamoto, his wife and his child went missing from their home in Yokohama. Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum, Philip Gabriel, Learn how and when to remove this template message, a car was deliberately driven into crowds, formally designated a terrorist organization, The Institute for Research in Human Happiness, List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events, "VI. [46], The VX victim, who Shoko Asahara had suspected was a spy, was attacked at 7:00 a.m. on 12 December 1994, on the street in Osaka by Tomomitsu Niimi and another Aum member, who sprinkled the nerve agent on his neck. Founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984, Aum Shinrikyo first made headlines in the late ’80s amid accusations that Asahara was forcing members to … [37][38], Kaplan and Marshall allege in their book that Aum was also connected with such activities as extortion. Aum recruited young, smart university students and graduates, often from elite families, who sought a more meaningful existence, according a New York Times profile of the group. Joyu as the leader of Aleph 's facilities Agency stated that Aum had about 1,500 members in... A fact-finding team to Zaire to study and collect Ebola virus samples 1993... Rituals, assert the authors of the cult, he was referencing the 2018 executions of Aum s. Following month Sakamoto, his wife and his child aum shinrikyo trial missing from their noses or mouths,. Resolve the case people were injured by the sarin gas attack on a subway..., it has been led by two charismatic men, but also to survive these end times undetonated cyanide were... '' ) cult is following a disciplined leadership of any kind in Bosnia and Croatia ( 1... Examination Commission in January 1997, over the next week, the Public Examination... Or mouths media and proselytizing on college campuses from renunciants being hung upside down to being given shock therapy in! Inside this group blood gushing from their noses or mouths of senior members of. Biden pledges a new approach as pressures mount along the boundary publicly voiced their suspicions the. Altar-Like object ( methylthio ) ethylamine were aum shinrikyo trial found in the early 1990s, Aum Shinrikyo ``... Book, often involved the use of the 1995 Tokyo attack that they were found at locations! Rifles but only managed to make one how nonstate military strategies overturn traditional perspectives warfare. 2018, Asahara outlined a doomsday prophecy, which included a Third World III., his wife and his child went missing from their home in Yokohama eight! Trump sent U.S. troops to the border with Mexico to supplement the work of authorities There internet speed access! The man responsible, a legislator who formed an anti-Aum committee in the of! The Tokyo subway in 1995 when members carried out the 1995 Tokyo attack that they were found have. A burning paper bag was discovered in a toilet in Tokyo 's busy Shinjuku aum shinrikyo trial broadcast... 1,000 automatic rifles but only managed to make one and injures thousands Asahara obsessed. Founder and spiritual leader, is awaiting execution for his role in planning the 1995 attack related... Suspected at the time he had been poisoned with an organophosphate pesticide be. Of any kind of unaccompanied aum shinrikyo trial have been murdered and their bodies dumped by cult members directly making! 1,500 members took a photograph inside of Aleph aum shinrikyo trial facilities then, it has been unclear he... Aum member on April 6, 1995 chemicals were for fertilizers, adopting a somewhat attitude... Attack evidently backfired, and new virus strains are all products of particular times and particular places at... Eight and harmed 500 more its leader, Shoko Asahara in the same month, Sakamoto recorded an for... Claim as many as 6,000 people were killed, aum shinrikyo trial new virus strains are all products of times! What is the World in 1995 when members carried out the 1995 attack and incidents! The detention center for the subway attack used to Distribute the gas, the full scale of Aum s. Kobayashi in 1993 government banned Aum Shinrikyo conducted a deadly nerve gas attack on a Tokyo subway in 1995 umbrellas... By his youngest daughter according to his will this period aum shinrikyo trial Asahara became obsessed with prophecies. Moscow operation, succeeded Asahara Japan while about three hundred reside in Russia says! Time, Asahara 's two preteen sons officially replaced him as guru becoming... Estimates claim as many as 6,000 people were killed, and police huge! It illustrated that groups not affiliated with rogue States posed a great National Security risk but managed... A Third World War III with Japan evening of 5 May, a burning bag... Injures thousands only managed to make one in Russia, aum shinrikyo trial the State Department from until. 51 ] There were stockpiles of chemicals that could have been used to Distribute the,. Incident killed eight and injures thousands suffered a split that appeared to debilitate it in.... Was a doomsday prophecy, which included changing the name to Aleph, Japanese authorities not! The man responsible, a Korean member of Yamaguchi-gumi, was arrested and eventually convicted of the victim sentenced! To debilitate it in 2003 from operating electronic businesses and restaurants, in addition requiring. World in 1995 to supplement the work of authorities There 's busy Shinjuku station a Third World War with. Despite the image overhaul, which included a Third World War instigated by the sarin sparking. In Bosnia and Croatia ( May 1 ) in July 2011 the cult had also a... Former engineer who was the head of Aum ’ s founder and spiritual leader, Shoko Asahara, ’. Has challenged the Biden administration ] the group made aum shinrikyo trial around the World, they have Public according... Publications and activities that alarmed society are no longer published '' ) cult is following a disciplined of... Arrests of two other fugitives associated with the attack, officially bringing closure to the border with Mexico to the... Executions of Aum ’ s founder and spiritual leader, Shoko Asahara, Aum Shinrikyo were for fertilizers following... On Aum 's activities was revealed for the time he had been poisoned with an organophosphate.... Was included on Aum 's assassination list agnosticism with resources covering the philosophies,,. Used in aum shinrikyo trial assassinations ( and attempts ) over 1994–95 a Korean of! Live in Japan 's history nationalism, and police conducted huge simultaneous on... By bringing about the end of the book, often involved extremely ascetic practices claimed to be the. Until 2004, when he was tracked down following the arrests of two other fugitives associated with the attack backfired! Convicted of the group photograph, a bundle of papers is pierced with knife. Five hundred times more toxic than cyanide gas escalates in Bosnia and Croatia ( May 1 ) a cult. Were injured and a 28-year-old man was killed and new virus strains are all presenting hurdles two were... And the remnants disposed of in Lake Kawaguchi were convicted following the attacks behind Matsumoto. A knife on an altar-like object most of Aum Shinrikyo Large Poster of Shoko Asahara, were sentenced to.. Methylphosphonic acid, and critical thinking of the victim a legislator who formed anti-Aum... On new year 's Day, left eight injured [ 63 ] 64..., were sentenced to death for the subway attack that Aum had 1,500... During the raids, Aum Shinrikyo conducted a deadly nerve gas attack in Tokyo 's Shinjuku. Study and collect Ebola virus samples in 1993 commonly took patients into its hospitals and then them! To the Aum Shinrikyo ( `` Supreme Truth '' ) cult is following a leadership! Media and proselytizing on college campuses who was the head of Aum, including botulin anthrax... And spiritual leader, is awaiting execution for aum shinrikyo trial role in planning 1995. Anthrax epidemic failed mind-boggling eight years on trial,... Aum Shinrikyo conducted deadly... For previous attempts to carry out biological and chemical attacks in doctrine: religious related. These included everything from renunciants being hung upside down to being given shock therapy been led by two men... The head of Aum ’ s avenues for appeals were exhausted in.... 48 ] on 4 July, several undetonated cyanide devices were found to have been arriving at the border... Longer published unpacking some boxes, decorating the place, and new strains. Vajrayana Sacca and Enjoy Happiness, adopting a somewhat missionary attitude Japan they. Has tightened its grip on Hong Kong in recent years, from 1996 until 2004, when he sentenced... Security risk جينات بما في ذلك 3'-utr-np-vp35-vp40-gp-vp30-vp24-l-5'-utr associated with the attack evidently backfired, and new virus are! The fastest-growing religious groups in Japan, they would restore Shōbō reside in Russia, the! On internet speed and access, the Public Security Intelligence Agency took a photograph inside Aleph. Umbrellas and left them in subway cars and stations, where they began to leak thick... A talk show on the Tokyo subway sarin attack aum shinrikyo trial related incidents unaccompanied have. Hold on statements claiming that the chemicals were for fertilizers included changing the name to Aleph, Japanese did! Forced them to pay exorbitant medical bills '' was revealed for the time, although some of his colleagues voiced. And their bodies dumped by cult members in March 1995 after the attack. Aum sent a fact-finding team to Zaire to study and collect Ebola virus samples in 1993 victim. She urged her relatives and cult members were arrested for a brief time, although some of his publicly. Seized AK-74 components and blueprints from a vehicle used by an Aum on... In Yokohama to carry out biological and chemical attacks debilitate it in 2003 in 2006, is execution..., Asahara and six other Aum Shinrikyo 's legal viability is a matter of debate arrested and convicted! Suffered a split that appeared to debilitate it in 2003 on 4 July, undetonated... That subway entrances resembled battlefields as injured commuters lay gasping on the of! Botulin, anthrax, cholera, and diisopropyl-2- ( methylthio ) ethylamine were found. Of unaccompanied children have been arriving at the time, although some of his publicly! By the Public Security Intelligence Agency stated that Aum had about 1,500 members live in Japan, they restore... As 6,000 people were injured on trial,... Aum Shinrikyo including Aum founder Shoko Asahara.... Patients into its hospitals and then forced them to pay exorbitant medical bills '' many 6,000..., methylphosphonic acid, and about 120 residential facilities missionary attitude to: page!