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A Note from History
Aum Shinrikyo

Shoko Asahara

On March 20, 1995, during morning rush hour, five men entered different trains on the Tokyo subway system, each carrying two or three plastic bags covered with newspapers. At a given time, the men removed the newspapers and punctured the bags using sharpened umbrella tips, and quickly exited the trains. As the liquid from the packages spread and evaporated into the air of the subway trains, people began to cough, choke, convulse, and collapse. By the end of the day, twelve people were dead, and almost 4,000 people were injured.

The substance released on the subway trains was the chemical agent sarin, and the five men—a cardiovascular surgeon, an electrical engineer, and three physicists—were all members of a Japanese cult called Aum Shinrikyo. This attack marked the first successful large-scale chemical weapon attack against civilians by a nonstate group, but it was not the first attack plotted and carried out by Aum Shinrikyo.

Aum Shinrikyo cult members attempted to disperse botulinum toxin, produced from bacteria obtained from soil samples, on at least three occasions between 1990 and 1993. In April of 1990, the cult attempted to disseminate botulinum toxin around Japan’s parliament building. In June of 1993, another attempt using an automobile was made at the wedding of Japan’s Crown Prince. No illnesses or deaths were reported after either of these incidents. Later that month, pursuing an alternative technology, the cult attempted to release anthrax spores from its mid-rise Tokyo office building laboratory. At that time, police and media reported foul smells, brown steam, some pet deaths, and stains on cars and sidewalks. A third attempt with botulinum toxin was made in March of 1995, just prior to the sarin attack, in which three briefcases designed to release botulinum toxin were planted in the Tokyo subway. No illness or death resulted from this attempt; it is believed that, in this instance, the individual responsible for filling the briefcases had second thoughts, and substituted a non-toxic substance for the botulinum toxin.

On June 27, 1994, a group of cult members drove a converted refrigerator truck into a residential neighborhood in the city of Matsumoto. With the truck parked in a secluded lot behind a stand of trees, a computer-controlled device was activated, releasing a cloud of sarin. A light breeze carried the nerve agent through windows and doorways, and into a courtyard formed by several buildings. Within a short time, seven people were dead, and five hundred others were taken to local hospitals. This attack was specifically targeted at three judges sitting on a panel hearing a lawsuit in which Aum Shinrikyo was the defendant.

The terrorist activities of Aum Shinrikyo were motivated by the cult’s belief that the world was heading towards a violent end, and that only members of Aum would survive. The cult’s efforts to acquire and produce chemical and biological weapons were part of a plan to hasten this apocalyptic event.

The group’s doomsday beliefs were rooted in the prophecies of its founder, Shoko Asahara. Asahara, whose given name was Chizuo Matsumoto, was born partially blind in 1955. After attending a school for the blind, he became an acupuncturist and later opened a folk medicine shop and a school for yoga. In the 1980s, he traveled to the Himalayas to study Buddhism and Hinduism, which ultimately led him to organize Aum Shinrikyo in 1987.

The name “Aum Shinrikyo” is a combination of a sacred Hindu syllable, “Om” (pronounced “aum”), and the Japanese “Shinri Kyo” which means “supreme truth.” Its belief system incorporated Shoko Asahara's personal interpretations of Yoga along with elements of Buddhism, Christianity, Shamanism, Hinduism and New Age faiths. Through numerous lecture tours, Asahara targeted young professionals and Japan’s top university minds. He eventually attracted more than 300 scientists who specialized in biochemistry, biology, medicine, and genetic engineering with promises of spiritual enlightenment.

Asahara was regarded as a Christ-like figure to cult members, who were taught that, without him, nothing was possible, but with him there opened up a path to perfection and to reincarnations in higher realms. Asahara’s disciples were expected not only to surrender themselves to his teachings, but to “merge” or “fuse” with him, becoming like clones of the guru.

Without a state sponsor, the Aum Shinrikyo raised funds through membership fees, donations, educational courses, Aum-run businesses and proceeds from literature sales. Japanese police estimated the cult’s assets to be over $1 million at its height. At the time of the 1995 sarin attack, the cult claimed approximately 10,000 followers in Japan and as many as 50,000 worldwide, with the majority of those in Russia, where the cult had purchased access to Russian radio and television stations.

In the days and weeks following the sarin subway attack in Tokyo, more than 200 key Aum Shinrikyo members, including Asahara, were arrested. A few months later, the cult lost its legal status as a religious organization in Japan. Not surprisingly, the Japanese government even came close to disbanding the cult altogether. Asahara’s trial began in 1996, but, due in large part to lack of cooperation by the defendant, a verdict was not reached until 2004. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. The Japanese Supreme Court threw out his final appeal in 2006. Twelve other cult members were also sentenced to death, but none of the sentences have yet been carried out.

Faced with mounting scrutiny by police and the government, Aum Shinrikyo publicly distanced itself from Asahara following the sarin attacks, admitting that he may have been directly responsible for those and other crimes committed by the cult's members. In January 2000, the cult changed its name to Aleph, after the Sanskrit for “unlimited expansion.” (The name change was not very effective, however, since the media in Japan and elsewhere generally continues to use the name Aum Shinrikyo, or at least mention its close connection to Aleph.) Fumihiro Joyu became the new leader of the group in early 2002, claiming to have rejected the violent and apocalyptic teachings of Asahara. These claims were met with skepticism by many, however, since the changes came just before the Japanese government was to decide whether the cult should be more closely supervised under a law regulating organizations that have committed mass murder. Indeed, the government decided not to disband the group, but the cult has been under close observation since that time.

In March 2007, Joyu announced his intent to leave Aleph and set up a new organization for his followers. Aleph had been internally divided for some time between members who espoused the new teachings of Joyu, and those who remained loyal to Asahara. With the departure of Joyu, Naruhito Noda became the new leader of Aleph. At the time of the split, the cult was estimated to be about 1600 members strong.

Opinions now differ as to the current threat posed by the remnants of Aum Shinrikyo. Some argue that the cult is too weak to raise the funds necessary to mount any sort of large-scale attack. Others cite the new, non-violent belief system claimed by the group since Asahara’s arrest. Still others, however, believe that cult members are determined, educated, and patient enough to re-grow and re-establish some of its original goals.