Tokyo sarin gas attack
Friday, March 20, 2020 was the 25th anniversary of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo (“Aum Supreme Truth”) religious cult led by Shoko Asahara (a.k.a. Chizuo Matsumoto). I remember it. The deadly gas was released on Tokyo's Marunouchi Subway Line during morning rush hour. That is my line. In those days I used it every day and I was on the train only an hour before the incident occurred. 13 people were killed and about 6,200 were "injured," meaning sickened.
After losing big in the 1993 national general election in which it ran candidates, Aum decided - in a fit of pique, perhaps - that in order to save the unbelieving, unsupportive Japanese public it was necessary to kill them. The cult also habitually tortured and even murdered dissidents, defectors and their lawyers.
Cult founder Shoko Asahara was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, terrorism and other charges related to the deliberate production of poison gas at his religious facilities. He was hanged on July 6, 2018 at age 63 at the Tokyo Detention House. His ashes remain in the custody of the prison because his family refuses to claim them for burial.
Those were the days (1995) before cell phones, so I did not know until later in the day, and even the next morning what had happened and the extent of it. The same thing happened when the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck the city of Kobe at 5:46 a.m. on January 17, 1995. There were no cell phones then, the Internet in its current form didn't yet exist, and it happened too late to be written up in the morning newspapers. So, I left home, went about my business, and did not learn about the devastating earthquake until late afternoon.. Interesting. Over the years I think the greatest single change in Japan and the rest of the world has been in communication technologies - the sorts of things that help spread news instantly to a worldwide audience.
Aum Shinrikyo still exists. It changed its name to “Aleph,” and it has never admitted responsibility for the gas attack. Currently there are over 1,600 members in Japan. The organization is closely monitored by the police.