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Ex-Aum cultist Makoto Hirata has 'no special feelings' about Shoko Asahara's execution
Makoto Hirata, a former Aum Shinrikyo executive, says he has “no special feelings” about the execution last month of Shoko Asahara, the founder of the now-defunct doomsday cult.
Aum executions reignite debate over Japan's death penalty
Thursday's executions of six Aum Shinrikyo cultists — the second set of hangings this month following the executions of seven on July 6 — have reignited debate over the nation's death penalty system, marked by its opacity and the absence of prior notice to ...
Japan sends last six Aum death row inmates to the gallows
Some speculate the Justice Ministry wanted to draw a curtain on the shocking crimes before the end of the Heisei Era, set for next April.
The following is a chronology of events related to the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult and its founder, Shoko Asahara, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto: March 2, 1955 — Matsumoto is born in Kumamoto Prefecture. February 1984 — Asahara forms group Aum Shinsen no Kai. July 1987 ...
While the execution of cult founder Shoko Asahara may offer a degree of closure on a string of crimes that shocked Japan, it also creates an opportunity for further debate about the death penalty.
Ex-Aum member Yoshihiro Inoue's last words: 'I didn't expect things to turn out this way'
A former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult that perpetrated the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 said just moments before his execution last week that he did not foresee such an ending, but remained calm and thanked his parents, an ...
Daughter said to have cut ties with executed Aum guru agrees to collect his remains
The fourth daughter of Shoko Asahara, the founder and former leader of doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, has confirmed she intends to collect the cremated remains of her father, who was executed last Friday. Asahara, 63, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is believed to have ...
Asahara allegedly asked for his body to be handed over to fourth daughter; wife petitions minister
Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara is said to have told a detention house guard to give his body to his fourth daughter.
Letters written by executed Aum cult members reflect regret, desire to live
Letters sent from prison to civic groups by some of the executed Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult members expressed regret for their heinous crimes and a wish to atone. Their letters also included calls for the abolition of capital punishment and requests for amnesty, showing their ...
U.N. human rights agency calls for national debate on death penalty after Aum executions
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed regret over the executions of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara and six other former members of the cult, calling for a national debate on the death penalty. "We regret that seven people were ...
Aum Shinrikyo guru Shoko Asahara and six other cult members hanged for mass murders
Shoko Asahara, founder of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo and mastermind behind the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway system is executed.
Ex-Aum executive Joyu offers apology to cult's victims on day of Asahara's execution
Former Aum Shinrikyo executive Fumihiro Joyu, who later founded Hikari no Wa (The Circle of Rainbow Light) which is one of the splinter groups, offered his apologies once again Friday to people affected by the doomsday cult but said he is no longer part ...
