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 ...
Aum victims and bereaved express sense of closure, disappointment and confusion over executions
The execution of Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara and six others from the doomsday cult leaves some feeling empty, gives others a sense of closure.
Aum founder Shoko Asahara's execution leads to renewed debate in Japan on death penalty
While the execution of Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara and the group's former senior members may offer a degree of closure on a string of crimes that shocked the nation, it also creates an opportunity for further debate in Japanese society about the ...
The following are brief descriptions of three major acts of violence by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult. Tokyo subway sarin gas attack Under instructions from Aum leader Shoko Asahara, 15 senior members conspired to take plastic bags containing sarin onto five Tokyo subway trains, which were ...
Profiles of top Aum Shinrikyo members, including six still on death row
A central figure in the Aum Shinrikyo cult as a chemistry expert, Masami Tsuchiya, 53, was sentenced to death in 2004 for his role in the production of sarin that was used in deadly gas attacks in Nagano Prefecture.
Japanese have mixed opinions on execution of Aum leader Shoko Asahara and six accomplices
A wide-range of reactions were heard Friday to news of the executions of Shoko Asahara and six former senior members of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo — which carried out the deadly 1995 sarin nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway system — with ...
Authorities on alert as Aum successor and splinter groups remain active
Public security authorities are on alert amid concerns that Friday's executions of Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara and former senior members could prompt groups of his supporters to become more active. The mainstay group — renamed Aleph — and two splinter groups have continued ...
Aum founder Shoko Asahara was mentally competent during detention, sources maintain
Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara, who was executed Friday for numerous crimes, suffered no psychiatric problems, sources with knowledge of his behavior in a detention facility said. The 63-year-old, who masterminded the 1995 sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system and 29 other ...
Japan and the United States are the only two members of the Group of Seven advanced economies that have the death penalty. Japanese death row inmates are executed by hanging. Three prison officers simultaneously press buttons to open the trap door so it is not ...
Shoko Asahara, the man behind an unprecedented string of heinous crimes in the 1980s and 1990s who was executed Friday at age 63, grew up visually impaired and faced various setbacks in his childhood as he sought to make something of his life. Formerly an ...
1995 Aum sarin attack on Tokyo subway still haunts, leaving questions unanswered
Hitoshi Jin describes his younger brother spending the booming 1980s "cult surfing," exploring what new religions had to offer to fill the gaping spiritual void left by a childhood scarred by an abusive father. Like others seeking refuge from the rampant materialism of the era, ...
After more than 20 years of trials, Japan's Supreme Court removes final obstacle to Aum executions
After more than 20 years of court battles, Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara and his death row accomplices can now be executed for their crimes.
