Last in a series

Japanese people used to be proud of their excellent public safety, considering it the country's crowning virtue.

But not since 1995, when Japan came to fear Shoko Asahara and his disciples in the Aum Shinrikyo cult. That was the year of the deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,500 in the heart of one of the safest cities in the world.