National Jul 7, 2019
A year after Chizuo Matsumoto, who headed the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, was hanged, his ashes remain at the Tokyo Detention House due to a family dispute.
National / Crime & Legal | FOCUS Jul 5, 2019
One year after 13 Aum Shinrikyo executions, scant debate over the death penalty in Japan
One year after the founder and 12 former senior members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult were executed for crimes including the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system, the debate over the death penalty remains a muted affair in Japan despite ...
National / Media | BIG IN JAPAN Apr 6, 2019
New era offers Japan an opportunity to reassess the future
by Michael Hoffman
What's in a name? What's in an era? What is an "era"? What's a "new era"? Are we entering one? To take the last question first: Not really, said 57 percent of respondents to a survey the Asahi Shimbun conducted in March versus 37 percent ...
National Mar 20, 2019
Japan marked the 24th anniversary Wednesday of a deadly sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway system carried out by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which killed 13 people and injured more than 6,000 others. In a memorial ceremony at Kasumigaseki Station, relatives of the victims ...
National / Crime & Legal Aug 19, 2018
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.
National / Crime & Legal Aug 3, 2018
Authorities have decided to permanently preserve trial records of criminal cases involving the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult as part of efforts to prevent a repeat of the serious crimes committed by its members, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Friday. "Their crimes were unprecedented, and similar ...
National / Media | MEDIA MIX Jul 28, 2018
Aum executions fail to end debate over cult's motives
by Philip Brasor
The execution of 13 members of the religious group Aum Shinrikyo in two rounds on July 6 and 26, including the group’s 63-year-old leader, Shoko Asahara (whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto), for the 1995 subway sarin attack and other crimes, was hardly a ...
Editorials Jul 27, 2018
The same ground that bred Aum Shinrikyo — and its crimes — may still be with us today.
National / Crime & Legal Jul 26, 2018
Japan sends last six Aum death row inmates to the gallows
by Sakura Murakami
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.
National / Crime & Legal Jul 26, 2018
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 ...
Editorials Jul 16, 2018
Whether or not people support the death penalty, they should be given enough information about the system and its implementation to make an informed judgment on the issue.
Language | MORNING ENGLISH Jul 16, 2018
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.