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July 13, 2025
 

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SHOKO ASAHARA

Some of the photos related to Aum Shinrikyo, taken by Seiichi Takeuchi, are displayed at an educational facility in Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 18, 2025
1,400 photos donated to remember horrors of Aum Shinrikyo cult
Kamikuishiki resident Seiichi Takeuchi, 97, waged a battle against the group from the time the cult set up the base in the village's Fujigane district in 1989.
An altar at the Aleph facility in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward featuring a photo of Shoko Asahara, the founder of Aum Shinrikyo and the alleged mastermind of the March 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2025
Thirty years later, Aum Shinrikyo’s horrors are ever-present
Subsequent revelations about the cult proved even more alarming than the 1995 assault. It became clear that the authorities had been worried about the group for some time.
Shizue Takahashi offers flowers and pays tribute to the victims of the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult during a memorial service at Kasumigaseki Station on Thursday. Her husband, Kazumasa, who was working as an assistant stationmaster at Kasumigaseki Station, was killed in the attack.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025
Tokyo subway sarin gas attack remembered 30 years on
Many survivors of the attack by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult still suffer from physical aftereffects and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A monument stands in Fujigane Park at the former site of an Aum Shinrikyo facility in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025
Former member of Aum Shinrikyo expresses regret 30 years on
The 59-year-old man who has served time in prison admitted to following the doomsday cult's leader despite thinking it wasn't right.
Public Security Intelligence Agency officers enter the headquarters of Hikari no Wa, one of the three successor groups to Aum Shinrikyo, in Tokyo in July 2019.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025
Aum Shinrikyo successor groups still dangerous, justice minister says
The minister also expressed concern about the groups' activities in recent years to recruit young people with little knowledge of the deadly attack.
Tetsu Okumura, former emergency room physician at St. Luke's International Hospital, talks about how he treated the victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system 30 years ago, during an interview last week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2025
Former ER doctor recalls fear treating victims in 1995 Tokyo sarin attack
At around 8 a.m. on March 20, 1995, cult members released sarin in train cars on three subway lines in Tokyo during the morning rush hour.
Emergency medical workers treat victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system at a makeshift shelter before they are transported to hospitals on March 20, 1995.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025
Japan to preserve medical records from 1995 sarin attack
The health ministry will also interview medical professionals who treated the victims and compile oral records.
Yuki Niimi, the widow of Tomomitsu Niimi, who was executed in 2018 along with other former members of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo for their roles in the 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system, poses with a photo of her husband (front) with cult leader Shoko Asahara, in Osaka in February.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2025
'Until the very end, he gave no apology': Widow of Aum killer speaks out
Tomomitsu Niimi was behind bars when he met Yuki Niimi, and when they married in 2011.
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by Aum Shinrikyo, the Public Security Intelligence Agency launched a special website Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025
Special website created 30 years after Tokyo subway sarin attack
The Aum Shinrikyo digital archive covers not only the Tokyo subway system attack, but also other crimes by the cult, including a 1994 sarin gas attack in Matsumoto.
An altar is decorated with a portrait of Aum Shinrikyo founder Chizuo Matsumoto at an Aleph facility in Tokyo this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 27, 2024
Japan authorities remain on alert over Aum successor group
Aleph, which has most of the roughly 1,650 worshippers of Aum Shinrikyo's three successor groups, continues to worship the teachings of cult leader Chizuo Matsumoto.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 2, 2023
Chiba Prefecture woman arrested over Twitter threat to release sarin
Miyuki Yamamoto, who ran unsuccessfully for the Funabashi Municipal Assembly last month, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing business with fraudulent information.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 25, 2020
25 years after Tokyo subway attack, Aum is a shadow of its former self
Doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo's sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway trains shocked Japan and the world, raising concerns over nonstate organizations obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2019
One year on, Aum founder's ashes still in detention house
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.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 6, 2019
New era offers Japan an opportunity to reassess the future
What's in a name? What's in an era? What is an "era"? What's a "new era"? Are we entering one?
JAPAN / 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.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 28, 2018
Aum executions fail to end debate over cult's motives
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 shock. Several months ago, after exhausting...
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2018
We must not forget the Aum Shinrikyo crimes
The same ground that bred Aum Shinrikyo — and its crimes — may still be with us today.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2018
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2018
A chronology of doomsday cult and its founder
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:
EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2018
Aum executions renew questions on death penalty
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.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.
NGOs condemn rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of Upper House vote
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya holds a board that reads "Japanese First" in Tokyo on July 2. In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights nongovernmental organizations described the far-right party's stance as "hate speech."
Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
From the Abes to the Ohtanis: How siblings shape athletic development
Olympic judoka Uta Abe (second from left) and Hifumi Abe (second from right) with their brother Yuichiro (center) and their parents. “I’m always consciously trying to be a good older brother,” Yuichiro said.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
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