Aum Shinrikyo

(Aum Supreme Truth, Aleph)

Description/History:

Aum Shinrikyo, translated as Aum Supreme Truth, attracted followers and notoriety as an apocalyptic cult in Japan in the late '80s and '90s, and is most remembered for the deadly 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway.

The cult was established and led by Shoko Asahara, a mystic and self-proclaimed messiah who espoused a doctrine combining elements of yoga, Buddhism, Christianity, science fiction, and apocalyptic prophesy. Aum expanded quickly from a small meditation group and gained legal recognition as a religion in 1989, attracting followers with promises of spiritual fulfillment, mystic powers, and salvation from the nuclear Armageddon of an imminent Third World War. The group promoted itself as elitist and ascetic, appealing to educated and anti-materialistic Japanese. Asahara and other leaders unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives in 1990.

The group became increasingly militant, organizing various "ministries" and stocking up on military hardware. Fixation with instigating the apocalypse prompted research and development of nerve gases and other weapons of mass destruction beginning in 1993. The cult allegedly extorted followers, held unwilling recruits forcibly, and incorporated bizarre cultish practices and hallucinogenic drugs into its doctrine of "yoga".

After the subway attacks, the Japanese government raided Aum Shinrikyo headquarters, revealing stores of biological weapons, precursor chemicals for quantities of nerve gas, drugs, cash, gold, and a weapons cache including explosives and a surplus Russian helicopter. Asahara was later arrested, and continues to await his death sentence. Numerous top officials and other followers were also arrested, and the group was deprived of its religious standing later in 1995 (though not made illegal). The group renamed itself Aleph in 2000 and has shrunk to likely fewer than two thousand members, a few hundred of which live in communes. In 2007, the cult "Hikari No Wa" split from Aleph, headed by former Aum official Fumihiro Joyu, and both sects have attempted to distance themselves from the subway attack. The cult continues to be watched officially and shunned by the public.

Activities:

Aum Shinrikyo has attempted to produce various chemical and biological weapons, including sarin, VX, hydrogen cyanide, anthrax, and ebola. It attempted 9 chemical and 7 biological attacks. The group was largely unsuccessful with its biological efforts, but used nerve agents for assassinations and for widespread attacks. A sarin attack on Matsumoto in 1994, later ascribed to the group, was the first use of chemical weapons in a terrorist attack against civilians, killing 8 and injuring 200. The March 20, 1995 attacks on the Tokyo subway killed 12 and injured thousands.

The group allegedly failed in its attempts to manufacture automatic firearms and procure a nuclear weapon.

The group is responsible for several murders, including those of Tsutsumi Sakamoto and his family after the anti-cult lawyer attempted to expose the group in 1989. In early 1995, Kiyoshi Kariya, brother of an escaped devotee, was kidnapped and killed by an overdose. Various cult members were held against their will or otherwise controlled.

Location:

Remaining Aleph followers are almost entirely in Japan, although individuals may remain in any of several countries where the group once had some support, such as Russia.

Financing: