Aum Supreme Truth (Aum)

A cult (also know as Aum Shinrikyo and Aleph) established in 1987 by Shoko Asahara, the Aum aimed to take over Japan and then the world. 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. The Japanese government revoked its recognition of the 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. A 1999 law gave the Japanese government authorization to continue police surveillance of the group due to concerns that Aum might launch future terrorist attacks. Under the leadership of Fumihiro Joyu the Aum changed its name to Aleph in January, 2000, and claimed to have rejected the violent and apocalyptic teachings of its founder. (Joyu took formal control of the organization early in 2002 and remains its leader.)

Organization activities. On 20 March, 1995, Aum members simultaneously released the chemical nerve agent sarin on several Tokyo subway trains, killing 12 persons and injuring up to 6,000. 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 charges in 13 crimes, including 7 counts of murder at the end of 2001. Legal analysts say it will take several more years to conclude the trial. Since 1997, the cult continued to recruit new members, engage in commercial enterprise, and acquire property, although it scaled back these activities significantly in 2001 in response to public outcry. The cult maintains an Internet home page. In July, 2001, Russian authorities arrested a group of Russian Aum followers who had planned to set off bombs near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as part of an operation to free Asahara from jail and then smuggle him to Russia.

The Aum's current membership is estimated at 1,500 to 2,000. At the time of the Tokyo subway attack, the group claimed to have 9,000 members in Japan and up to 40,000 worldwide. The Aum's principal membership is located in Japan, but a residual branch comprising an unknown number of followers has surfaced in Russia.

█ FURTHER READING:

ELECTRONIC:

Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook, 2002. <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/> (April 16, 2003).

Taylor, Francis X. U.S. Department of State. Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001, Annual Report: On the record briefing. May 21, 2002 <http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/10367.htm> (April 17,2003).

U.S. Department of State. Annual reports. <http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/annual_reports.html> (April 16, 2003).

SEE ALSO

Terrorism, Philosophical and Ideological Origins
Terrorist and Para-State Organizations
Terrorist Organization List, United States
Terrorist Organizations, Freezing of Assets

Aum Shinrikyo, Supreme Truth Movement. A Japanese syncretistic movement, with a strong eschatological emphasis. Under its leader, Asahara Shoko, to whom dedication as to a guru was required, it became notorious in 1995 because of its claimed association with two attacks using poison gas on a random population. The second of these, on the Tokyo subway, killed or injured hundreds of people. The members of the movement believed that the end of the world cycle was due in 1997; in preparation for the end, new recruits were required to demonstrate their loyalty by arduous programmes of self-denial—including nearstarvation. Its main headquarters were near Mount Fuji (Fujisan), an association which has linked the movement (inappropriately) with the older Shinrikyo. Shinrikyo was founded by Sano Tsunihiko (1834–1906), who had belonged to Ontakekyo, one of the mountain worship cults. Shinrikyo, while being eclectic, is nevertheless conservative: it worships Amaterasu and the kojiki deities, it emphasizes loyalty to emperor and family, and it requires participation in rituals as well as the practice of kado (flower meditation: see IKEBANA) and chadō (tea ceremony). Shinrikyo has given rise to at least four break-away groups, but none of a radical, ‘end of world’ kind.

Aum Shinrikyō (Jap.). A new religious movement that developed in Japan during the 1980s under the leadership of its ‘guru’, Shoko Asahara. A kind of Śaiva-Shinto synthesis, the group also includes Buddhist and Judeo-Christian elements in its beliefs and practices. The cult drew worldwide attention when it released nerve gas in five Tokyo subway lines on 20 March 1995 in accordance with its millennial ‘doomsday’ beliefs. After several years of decline caused by the subsequent investigations and arrests, the group is reportedly on the rise once again.

Shinrikyo (Japanese religious movement): see AUM SHINRIKYO.