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Aum Shinrikyo (or Aum Supreme Truth) is the name of a
terrorist cult operating in Japan, though the cult is now known by the name
Aleph. The group is most famous for their 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo
subway system.
Description: A cult established in 1987 by Shoko Asahara, Aum aimed to
take over Japan, then the world. Aum is a Sanskrit word meaning "powers of
destruction and creation in the universe," and Shinrikyo means "teaching of
the supreme truth".
Approved as a religious entity in 1989 under Japanese law, the group ran
candidates in a Japanese parliamentary election in 1990. Over time the cult
began to emphasize the imminence of the end of the world and stated that the
United States would initiate Armageddon by starting World War III with
Japan. Following the Tokyo subway attack (see below), the Japanese
Government revoked its recognition of Aum as a religious organization in
October 1995, but in 1997 a government panel decided not to invoke the
Anti-Subversive Law against the group, which would have outlawed the cult.
In 2000, Fumihiro Joyu took control of Aum following his three-year jail
sentence for perjury. Joyu was previously the group's spokesman and Russia
Branch leader. Under Joyu's leadership Aum changed its name to Aleph and
claims to have rejected the violent and apocalyptic teachings of its
founder.
Stories from survivors of the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack and former
members of the cult are collected in the book The Underground by renowned
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami.
Activities: On March 20, 1995, Aum members simultaneously released the
chemical nerve agent sarin on several Tokyo subway trains, killing 12
persons and injuring up to 6,000. (Recent studies put the number of persons
who suffered actual physical injuries closer to 1,300, with the rest
suffering from some form of psychological trauma.) The group was responsible
for other mysterious chemical accidents in Japan in 1994. Its efforts to
conduct attacks using biological agents have been unsuccessful. Japanese
police arrested Asahara in May 1995, and he remained on trial, facing 17
counts of murder at the end of 2000. Since 1997 the cult continued to
recruit new members, engage in commercial enterprise, and acquire property,
although the cult scaled back these activities significantly in 2000 in
response to public outcry. The cult maintains an Internet homepage.
Aum members were responsible for the abduction, murder and disappearance
of a lawyer, his wife and their infant daughter.
Aum also sold quack medicines and subjected people to dangerous
treatments in their clinics, resulting in deaths. It also required members
to pay large sums of money for special books and videos. Renunciates had to
sign over all of their possessions to Aum.
Aum experimented with producing chemical, biological and laser weapons,
importing the machinery to produce automatic firearms and sold illegal drugs
on the black market.
Strength: Aum's current membership is estimated at 1,500 to 2,000
persons. At the time of the Tokyo subway attack, the group claimed to have
9,000 members in Japan and up to 40,000 worldwide.
Location/Area of Operation: Aum's principal membership is located only in
Japan, but a residual branch comprising an unknown number of followers has
surfaced in Russia.
Doctrine: Asahara preached a mixture of pseudoscience, Nostradamus,
esoteric Buddhism and millennarian Christianity, claiming that modern
Japanese society was corrupt, nuclear holocaust was imminent and that Aum
would save and/or recreate the world through magic powers and science.
An important part of Aum's doctrine was the controversial Buddhist idea
of poa, that under certain circumstances murder could spiritually elevate
both the victim and the killer. This belief was a key rationalization for
the numerous murders committed by Aum members, of people both inside and
outside of the organization.
Aum and Unification Church: Unification Church is Korean cult founded and
led by Sun Myung Moon who, claiming that Jesus failed, has declared himself
the title "Messiah." Co-founder of Aum Hayakawa Kiyohide was sent by
Unification Church. He brought methods of mind control and millions of
dollars and at least 12 Unification Church members to Aum.
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