Editing Aum Shinrikyo (section)

==History==
{{Expand Japanese|langcode=jp|section=yes}}
{{Expand section|date=September 2025}}
[[File:Aum symbol.svg|thumb|Aum Shinrikyo symbol]]
The movement "evolved out of a yoga school founded by Asahara Shoko in the Shibuya district of Tokyo in February 1984".<ref>{{cite book|title=Wolves Within the Fold: Religious Leadership and Abuses of Power|last=Shupe|first=Anson D.|year=1998|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8135-2489-4|page=34}}</ref> The movement was known as {{nihongo|''Ōmu Shinsen no Kai''|オウム神仙の会|"Aum [[Xian (Taoism)|Heavenly Sage]] Association"}} and steadily grew in the following years. It gained official status as a [[religious organization]] in 1989 and attracted a considerable number of graduates from Japan's elite universities, thus being dubbed a "religion for the elite".<ref name=controversial>{{cite book|title=Controversial New Religions|url=https://archive.org/details/controversialnew00lewi|url-access=limited|last=Lewis|first=James R.|author2=Jesper Aagaard Petersen|year=2005|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-515683-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/controversialnew00lewi/page/n174 162]}}</ref>
===Early activities===
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Shinri Party (Truth Party)
| native_name      = 真理党
| native_name_lang = ja
| logo             = 
| logo_alt         = 
| colorcode        = <!-- HTML color code (e.g. "red", "#FF0000" or Party metadata color template) otherwise "transparent" -->
| leader           = [[Shoko Asahara]]
| president        = 
| chairperson      = 
| general_secretary = 
| first_secretary  = 
| secretary_general = 
| presidium        = 
| standing_committee = 
| secretary        = 
| spokesperson     = 
| founder          = 
| founded          = 1989
| dissolved        = 2018
| seats1_title     = Candidates in the [[1990 Japanese general election]]
| seats1           = 25
| headquarters     = 
| ideology         = World salvation based on the teachings of Aum Shinrikyo
| country          = 
}}
Although Aum was, from the beginning, considered controversial in Japan, it was not initially associated with serious crimes. It was during this period that Asahara became obsessed with [[Bible prophecy|Biblical prophecies]]. Aum's public relations activities included publishing comics and animated cartoons that attempted to tie its religious ideas to popular [[anime]] and [[manga]] themes, including space missions, powerful weapons, world conspiracies, and the quest for ultimate truth.<ref>{{cite book|title=Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime|last=Macwilliams|first=Mary Wheeler|year=2008|publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]]|isbn=978-0-7656-1602-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/japanesevisualcu0000unse/page/211 211]|url=https://archive.org/details/japanesevisualcu0000unse/page/211}}</ref> Aum published several magazines including ''[[Vajrayana]] Sacca'' and ''Enjoy Happiness'', adopting a somewhat missionary attitude.<ref name=controversial/>

[[Isaac Asimov]]'s science fiction ''[[Foundation (book series)|Foundation Trilogy]]'' was referenced "depicting as it does an elite group of spiritually evolved scientists forced to go underground during an age of barbarism to prepare themselves for the moment...when they will emerge to rebuild civilization".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/aug/24/alqaida.sciencefictionfantasyandhorror|work=The Guardian|location=London, UK|title=What is the origin of the name al-Qaida?|date=24 August 2002|access-date=25 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405110855/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/aug/24/alqaida.sciencefictionfantasyandhorror|archive-date=5 April 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Lifton posited that Aum's publications used Christian and Buddhist ideas to impress what he considered to be the more shrewd and educated Japanese who were not attracted to boring, purely traditional [[sermon]]s.<ref name=lifton/>{{rp|258}}

Advertising and recruitment activities, dubbed the "Aum Salvation plan", included claims of curing physical illnesses with health improvement techniques, realizing life goals by improving intelligence and positive thinking, and concentrating on what was important at the expense of leisure. This was to be accomplished by practicing ancient teachings, accurately translated from original [[Pali]] [[sutra|sutta]]s (these three were referred to as "threefold salvation"). These efforts resulted in Aum becoming one of the fastest-growing religious groups in Japan's history.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall claim that its practices remained secret. Initiation rituals often involved the use of [[hallucinogen]]s, such as [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]]. Religious practices often involved extremely ascetic practices claimed to be "yoga". These included everything from renunciants being hung upside down to being given [[Electroconvulsive therapy|shock therapy]].<ref name=kaplan2>{{cite book|last1=Kaplan|first1=David E.|first2=Andrew|last2=Marshall|year=1996|title=The Cult at the End of The World|place=London, UK|publisher=Hutchinson}}</ref>

In the early days, Aum was able to recruit a variety of people ranging from bureaucrats to personnel from the [[Japanese Self-Defense Forces]] and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.<ref name="WIRED">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/1996/07/aum/ | title=The Cult at the End of the World | magazine=Wired | last1=Kaplan | first1=David E. }}</ref>

===Incidents before 1995===
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Aum affair
| partof      = 
| image       = 
| caption     = 
| date        = 1989 – March 20, 1995
| place       = [[Japan]]
| coordinates =
| map_type    = 
| latitude    = 
| longitude   = 
| map_size    = 
| map_caption = 
| map_label   = 
| territory   = 
| result      = Arrest of Shoko Asahara<br>Government Victory
| status      = 
| combatant1  = {{JPN}}
| combatant2  = [[File:Aum symbol.svg|25px]] Aum Shinrikyo
| combatant3  = 
| commander1  = [[Tomiichi Murayama]]
| commander2  = [[Shoko Asahara]]{{executed}}
| commander3  = 
| strength1   = 
| strength2   = 
| strength3   = 
| units1   = [[Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department|MPD]]<br>[[Riot Police Unit]]<br>[[1st Airborne Brigade (Japan)|1st Airborne Brigade]]<br>civilian protesters
| units2   = Armed believers
| units3   = 
| casualties1 = 27 killed<br> 6,000+ injured
| casualties2 = 1 killed<br>192+ arrested<br>(later 13 executed)
| casualties3 =
| notes       = 
}}
The [[cult]] started attracting controversy in the late 1980s with accusations of deception of recruits, holding cult members against their will, forcing members to donate money, and murdering a cult member who tried to leave in February 1989.<ref name=cultdeath>{{cite news|title=Aum member tells of 2 deaths at compound|work=The Daily Yomiuri|publisher=The Japan News|location=Tokyo|page=1|date=24 September 1995}}</ref><ref name=rearrest>{{cite news|title=Asahara rearrested in 1989 cultist murder|work=The Daily Shimbun|publisher=The Japan News|page=2|date=21 October 1995}}</ref>

In October 1989, the group's negotiations with [[Sakamoto family murder|Tsutsumi Sakamoto]], an [[Anti-cult movement|anti-cult]] lawyer threatening a [[lawsuit]] against them, which could potentially bankrupt the group, failed. In the same month, Sakamoto recorded an interview for a talk show on the Japanese TV station [[Tokyo Broadcasting System|TBS]]. The network then had the interview secretly shown to the group without notifying Sakamoto, intentionally breaking [[protection of sources]]. The group then pressured TBS to cancel the broadcast. The following month, Sakamoto, his wife and his child went missing from their home in [[Yokohama]]. The police were unable to resolve the case at the time, although some of his colleagues publicly voiced their suspicions of the group. It was not until after the [[Tokyo subway sarin attack|1995 Tokyo attack]] that they were found to have been [[Sakamoto family murder|murdered]] and their bodies dumped in separate locations by cult members.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ian|last=Reader|title=Scholarship, Aum Shinrikyô, and Academic Integrity|journal=Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions|volume=3|number=2|date=April 2000|page=370|doi=10.1525/nr.2000.3.2.368|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=death>{{cite news|title=Japan Sect's Role in Murder Case Emerges, Prompting Outcry|first=Nicholas D.|last=Kristof|date=14 March 1996|work=The New York Times|page=A9}}</ref>

Kaplan and Marshall allege in their book that Aum was also connected with such activities as [[extortion]]. The group, authors report, "commonly took patients into its hospitals and then forced them to pay exorbitant medical bills".<ref name=kaplan2/>

The cult is known to have considered [[assassination]]s of several individuals critical of the cult, such as the heads of Buddhist sects [[Soka Gakkai]] and [[Happy Science|The Institute for Research in Human Happiness]]. After manga artist [[Yoshinori Kobayashi]] began satirizing the cult, he was included on Aum's assassination list. An assassination attempt was made on Kobayashi in 1993.<ref name=david>{{cite news|last1=McNeill|first1=David|title=Nous ne sommes pas Charlie: Voices that mock authority in Japan muzzled|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/01/26/issues/nous-ne-sommes-pas-charlie-voices-mock-authority-japan-muzzled|work=The Japan Times|date=26 January 2015}}</ref>

In 1991, Aum began to use wiretapping to get [[Nippon Telegraph and Telephone|NTT]] uniforms/equipment and created a manual for wiretapping.<ref name="WIRED"/>

In July 1993, cult members sprayed large amounts of liquid containing ''[[Bacillus anthracis]]'' spores from a cooling tower on the roof of Aum Shinrikyo's Tokyo headquarters. However, their plan to cause an [[anthrax]] epidemic failed, likely because they used a vaccine strain of ''[[Bacillus anthracis]]'' that is generally regarded as nonpathogenic. The attack resulted in a large number of complaints about bad odors but no infections.<ref name="Takahashi2004">{{cite journal|last1=Takahashi|first1=Hiroshi|title=Bacillus anthracis Bioterrorism Incident, Kameido, Tokyo, 1993|journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases|date=2004|volume=10|issue=1|pages=117–20|doi=10.3201/eid1001.030238|pmid=15112666|pmc=3322761}}</ref>

At the end of 1993, the cult started secretly manufacturing the nerve agent [[sarin]] and, later, [[VX (nerve agent)|VX]]. Aum tested its sarin on sheep at [[Banjawarn Station]], a remote pastoral property in [[Western Australia]], killing 29 sheep.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Quillen |first=Chris |title=Dead Sheep Tell No Tales: Aum Shinrikyo's Alleged Sarin Tests in Australia Never Happened |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2025.2494251 |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |date=2025 |volume=0 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1080/1057610X.2025.2494251 |issn=1057-610X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

On the night of 27 June 1994, the cult carried out a [[chemical weapon]]s attack against civilians when they released sarin in the central Japanese city of [[Matsumoto, Nagano|Matsumoto]], [[Nagano Prefecture|Nagano]]. With the help of a converted [[refrigerator truck]], members of the cult released a cloud of sarin, which floated near the homes of judges who were overseeing a lawsuit concerning a real-estate dispute, which was predicted to go against the cult. This [[Matsumoto sarin attack|Matsumoto incident]] killed eight and harmed 500 more.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.3201/eid0504.990409|pmid=10458955|pmc=2627754 |title=Aum Shinrikyo: Once and Future Threat? |year=1999 |last1=Olson |first1=Kyle B. |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=413–416 }}</ref> Police investigations focused only on an innocent local resident, [[Yoshiyuki Kōno (victim)|Yoshiyuki Kouno]], and failed to implicate the cult at the time. It was only after the [[Tokyo subway sarin attack|Tokyo subway attack]] that Aum Shinrikyo was discovered to be behind the Matsumoto sarin attack.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

At the end of 1994, the cult broke into the Hiroshima factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in an attempt to steal technical documents on military weapons such as tanks and artillery.<ref name="kaplan2" />

In December 1994 and January 1995, Aum Shinrikyo member [[Masami Tsuchiya (terrorist)|Masami Tsuchiya]] synthesized 100 to 200&nbsp;grams of VX which was used to attack three people. On 2 December, Noboru Mizuno, who was believed to have assisted former members of Aum, was attacked with syringes containing [[VX gas]], leaving him in a serious condition.<ref>{{cite news|first=Pamela|last=Zurer|title=Japanese cult used VX to slay member|work=Chemical and Engineering News|year=1998|volume=76|number=35}}</ref> Tadahito Hamaguchi, whom Asahara suspected was a spy, was attacked at 7:00&nbsp;a.m. on 12 December 1994 on the street in [[Osaka]] by [[Tomomitsu Niimi]] and another Aum member, who sprinkled the nerve agent on his neck. He chased them for about {{convert|100|yd|m}} before collapsing, dying 10 days later without coming out of a deep coma. Doctors in the hospital suspected at the time he had been poisoned with an [[organophosphate]] pesticide, the cause of death pinned down only after cult members arrested for the [[Tokyo subway sarin attack|subway attack in Tokyo]] in March 1995 confessed to the killing. Ethyl methylphosphonate, methylphosphonic acid, and diisopropyl-2-(methylthio) ethylamine were later found in the body of the victim; unlike the cases for [[sarin]] ([[Matsumoto incident]] and Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway), VX was not used for mass murder.<ref name="Tandfon"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/1999/11/04/national/the-asahara-trial-aum-member-explains-vx-attack/|title=The Asahara Trial: Aum member explains VX attack|work=Japan Times|date=4 November 1999 |accessdate=2023-03-04}}</ref><ref name="Research">{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Syringe-and-tube-used-to-injure-two-victims-The-photographs-were-given-to-Tu-by_fig1_343395749|title=The use of VX as a terrorist agent: action by Aum Shinrikyo of Japan and the death of Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia: four case studies|work=Research Gate|accessdate=2023-03-04}}</ref>

On 4 January 1995, the cult tried to kill Hiroyuki Nagaoka, an important member of the Aum Victims' Society, a civil organization that protested against the sect's activities, in the same way.<ref name="Tandfon">{{cite journal|title=The use of VX as a terrorist agent: action by Aum Shinrikyo of Japan and the death of Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia: four case studies|journal= Global Security: Health, Science and Policy|year=2020 |doi=10.1080/23779497.2020.1801352 |last1=Tu |first1=Anthony T. |volume=5 |pages=48–56 |s2cid=226613084 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/es/el-agente-vx-un-veneno-diez-veces-m%C3%A1s-potente-que-el-sar%C3%ADn/a-37711570|title=El agente VX: un veneno diez veces más potente que el sarín|work=Deutsche Welle|accessdate=2023-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/skin-on-fire-a-firsthand-account-of-a-vx-attack-1487937315|title=Skin on Fire: A Firsthand Account of a VX Attack|work=Washington State Journal|date=24 February 2017 |accessdate=2023-03-04 |last1=Gale |first1=Alastair }}</ref><ref name="Research"/>
In February 1995, several cult members kidnapped Kiyoshi Kariya, the 69-year-old brother of an escaped former member, from a Tokyo street and took him to a compound in [[Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi|Kamikuishiki]] near [[Mount Fuji]], where he was killed. His corpse was destroyed in a [[microwave]]-powered incinerator and the remnants disposed of in [[Lake Kawaguchi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/01/aum-shinri-kyo-fugitive|title=Aum Shinrikyo cult fugitive turns himself in after 16 years|work=[[The Guardian]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=1 January 2012}}</ref> Before Kariya was abducted, he had been receiving threatening phone calls demanding to know the whereabouts of his sister, and he had left a note saying, "If I disappear, I was abducted by Aum Shinrikyo".<ref name="Tandfon"/>

Police made plans to simultaneously raid cult facilities across Japan in March 1995.<ref name=chrono>{{cite news| title=Chronology: Events involving Aum Shinrikyo|work=The Nikkei Weekly|publisher=The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Incorporated|location=New York|page=Issues & People, page 3|date=22 May 1995}}</ref> Prosecutors alleged Asahara was tipped off about this and that he ordered the Tokyo subway attack to divert police.<ref name="Research"/>

Aum had also attempted to manufacture 1,000 [[assault rifle]]s, but only completed one.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/837000.stm|title=Japan cultists sentenced to death|date=17 July 2000|work=BBC News|access-date=2 January 2012}}</ref> According to the testimony of Kenichi Hirose at the Tokyo District Court in 2000, Asahara wanted the group to be self-sufficient in manufacturing copies of the Soviet Union's main infantry weapon, the [[AK-74]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/07/08/national/cultist-says-asahara-ordered-1000-machineguns-be-made/|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190412133948/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/07/08/national/cultist-says-asahara-ordered-1000-machineguns-be-made/|archive-date = 12 April 2019|title = Cultist says Asahara ordered 1,000 machineguns be made &#124; the Japan Times|date = 8 July 2000}}</ref> one rifle was smuggled into Japan to be studied so that Aum could [[reverse engineer]] and mass-produce the AK-74.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/10/25/aum-shinrikyo-death-cult-made-ak74-assault-rifles/|title = Aum Shinrikyo death cult made AK74 assault rifles -|date = 25 October 2018}}</ref> Police seized AK-74 components and blueprints from a vehicle used by an Aum member on April 6, 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/congress/1995_rpt/aum/part04.htm|title = IV. The Operation of the Aum – A Case Study on the Aum Shinrikyo}}</ref>

===Tokyo subway sarin attack and related incidents===
{{main|Tokyo subway sarin attack}}

[[File:サティアン.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Aum Shinrikyo facility in [[Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi|Kamikuishiki]], September 8, 1996]]
On the morning of 20 March 1995, Aum members released a [[binary chemical weapon]], most closely chemically similar to sarin, in a coordinated attack on five trains in the [[Tokyo subway]] system, killing 13 commuters, seriously injuring 54, and affecting 980 more. Some estimates claim as many as 6,000 people were injured by the sarin. It is difficult to obtain exact numbers since many victims are reluctant to come forward.<ref>Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum, Philip Gabriel, ''Underground'', Vintage International, 2001.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>

Prosecutors allege that Asahara was tipped off by an insider about planned police raids on cult facilities and ordered an attack in central Tokyo to divert police attention away from the group. The attack evidently backfired, and police conducted huge simultaneous raids on cult compounds across the country.<ref>[[Richard Danzig|Danzig, Richard]], [[Marc Sageman]], Terrance Leighton, Lloyd Hough, Hidemi Yuki, Rui Kotani and Zachary M. Hosford, "[http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_AumShinrikyo_Danzig_1.pdf Aum Shinrikyo:  Insights Into How Terrorists Develop Biological and Chemical Weapons] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324102229/http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_AumShinrikyo_Danzig_1.pdf|date=24 March 2012}}", ''[[Center for a New American Security]]'', July 2011; accessed 12 July 2018.</ref>

Over the next week, the full scale of Aum's activities was revealed for the first time. At the cult's headquarters in [[Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi|Kamikuishiki]], on the foot of [[Mount Fuji]], police found explosives, chemical weapons, and a Russian [[Mil Mi-17|Mi-17-1V]] military helicopter (4K-15214).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.helicopter-database.de/data-aircraft-record.php?index=XXX08E-341M014_2|title=4K-15214|website=helicopter-database.de}}</ref> While the finding of [[biological warfare]] agents such as [[anthrax]] and [[Ebola]] [[Cell cultures|cultures]] was reported, those claims now appear to have been widely exaggerated.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smitheson|first1=Amy E.|title=Ataxia: The Chemical and Biological Terrorism Threat and the US Response|date=9 October 2000|page=77|url=https://www.stimson.org/wp-content/files/file-attachments/atxchapter3_1.pdf|access-date=6 October 2023}}</ref> There were stockpiles of chemicals that could be used for producing enough sarin to kill four million people.<ref name=CT1>{{cite book|last=Townshend|first=Charles|title=Terrorism: a very short introduction|year=2011|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=Oxford [u.a.]|isbn=9780199603947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pii3jii9qA4C&pg=PA116|edition=2nd|access-date=7 August 2012|page=116|quote=(... enough Sarin in Aum's possession to kill over 4 million people).}}</ref>

Police also found laboratories to manufacture drugs such as [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]], [[methamphetamine]], and a crude form of [[truth serum]], a safe containing millions of U.S. dollars in cash and gold, and cells, many still containing prisoners. During the raids, Aum issued statements claiming that the chemicals were for fertilizers. Over the next six weeks, over 150 cult members were arrested for a variety of offenses. The media were stationed outside Aum's Tokyo headquarters on Komazawa Dori in [[Aoyama, Tokyo|Aoyama]] for months after the attack and arrests, waiting for action and to get images of the cult's other members. On 30 March 1995, Takaji Kunimatsu, chief of the [[National Police Agency (Japan)|National Police Agency]], was shot four times near his house in Tokyo and was seriously wounded. While many suspected Aum involvement in the shooting, the ''[[Sankei Shimbun]]'' reported that [[Hiroshi Nakamura (dissident)|Hiroshi Nakamura]] is suspected of the crime, but nobody has been charged;<ref>{{Cite web |title=警察庁長官銃撃で７７歳男が犯行示唆の供述 「秘密の暴露」 (1/3ページ) - MSN産経ニュース |url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/crime/080320/crm0803200217005-n1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321234317/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/crime/080320/crm0803200217005-n1.htm |archive-date=2008-03-21 |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=sankei.jp.msn.com |language=ja-JP}}</ref> Nakamura would later confess to the crime.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japan Today - News - Man confesses to shooting Japan's top cop in 1995 |url=http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/431698 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321130156/http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/431698 |archive-date=2008-03-21 |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=www.japantoday.com}}</ref>

On 23 April 1995, [[Hideo Murai]], the head of Aum's Ministry of Science, was stabbed to death outside the cult's Tokyo headquarters amidst a crowd of about 100 reporters, in front of cameras. The man responsible, a Korean member of [[Yamaguchi-gumi]], was arrested and eventually convicted of the murder. His motive remains unknown. On the evening of 5 May, a burning paper bag was discovered in a toilet in Tokyo's busy [[Shinjuku station]]. Upon examination, it was revealed that it was a [[hydrogen cyanide]] device which, had it not been extinguished in time, would have released enough gas into the ventilation system to potentially kill 10,000 commuters.<ref name=chrono/> On 4 July, several undetonated cyanide devices were found at other locations in the Tokyo subway.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/425960/HERES-A-CHRONOLOGY-OF-POISON-GAS-ATTACKS-IN-JAPAN.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322174059/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/425960/HERES-A-CHRONOLOGY-OF-POISON-GAS-ATTACKS-IN-JAPAN.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2015|title=Here's a chronology of poison gas attacks in Japan|work=[[Deseret News]]| date= 5 July 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/07/04/Four-injured-by-Tokyo-station-gas-fumes/1840804830400|title= Four injured by Tokyo station gas fumes|publisher=United Press International|date=4 July 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Tucker|first1=Jonathan B.|title=Toxic Terror: Assessing Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons|date=February 2000|page=219|publisher=MIT Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MrPyPP7gkHYC|isbn=9780262700719}}</ref>

During this time, numerous cult members were arrested for various offenses, but arrests of the most senior members on the charge of the subway gassing had not yet taken place. In June, an individual unrelated to Aum had launched a copycat attack by hijacking [[All Nippon Airways Flight 857]], a Boeing 747 bound for Hakodate from Tokyo. The hijacker claimed to be an Aum member in possession of sarin and plastic explosives, but these claims were ultimately found to be false.<ref name="LAT">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=1995-06-25|title=Hijacker Used Clay, Water as Fake Weapons|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-25-mn-17159-story.html|access-date=2021-02-13|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Asahara was finally found hiding within a wall of a cult building known as "The 6th Satian" in the Kamikuishiki complex on 16 May and was arrested.<ref name=chrono/> On the same day, the cult mailed a parcel bomb to the office of [[Yukio Aoshima]], the governor of Tokyo, blowing off the fingers of his secretary's hand. Asahara was initially charged with 23 counts of murder and 16 other offenses. The trial, dubbed "the trial of the century" by the press, ruled Asahara guilty of masterminding the attack and [[Capital punishment in Japan|sentenced him to death]]. The indictment was appealed unsuccessfully. Several senior members accused of participation, such as Masami Tsuchiya, also received death sentences.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

The reasons why a small circle of mostly senior Aum members committed atrocities and the extent of personal involvement by Asahara remain unclear, although several theories have attempted to explain these events. In response to the prosecution's charge that Asahara ordered the subway attacks to distract authorities, the defense maintained that Asahara was not aware of events, pointing to his deteriorating health. Shortly after his arrest, Asahara abandoned his post as the organization's leader, and maintained silence afterward, refusing to communicate even with lawyers and family members.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

===After 1995===
[[File:Anti-Aum Shinrikyo protest.JPG|thumb|upright=1.25|An anti–Aum Shinrikyo protest in Japan, 2009]]
On 21 June 1995, Asahara acknowledged that in January 1994, he ordered the killing of a sect member, Kotaro Ochida, a pharmacist at an Aum hospital. Ochida, who tried to escape from a sect compound, was held down and strangled by another Aum member who was allegedly told that he too would be killed if he did not strangle Ochida. On 10 October 1995, Aum Shinrikyo was ordered stripped of its official status as a "religious [[Juridical person|legal entity]]" and was declared bankrupt in early 1996. However, the group continues to operate under the constitutional guarantee of [[Freedom of religion in Japan|freedom of religion]], funded by a successful computer business and donations, and under strict [[surveillance]]. Attempts to ban the group altogether under the 1952 Subversive Activities Prevention Law were rejected by the Public Security Examination Commission in January 1997.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

The group underwent several transformations in the aftermath of Asahara's arrest and trial. For a brief time, Asahara's two preteen sons officially replaced him as guru. It re-grouped under the new name "Aleph" in February 2000. It announced a change in doctrine: religious texts related to controversial [[Vajrayana]] Buddhist doctrines and the Bible were removed. The group apologized to the victims of the sarin gas attack and established a special compensation fund. Provocative publications and activities that alarmed society are no longer published.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

[[Fumihiro Joyu]], one of the few senior leaders of the group under Asahara who did not face serious charges, became the official head of the organization in 1999. [[Kōki Ishii]], a legislator who formed an anti-Aum committee in the [[National Diet]] in 1999, was murdered in 2002.

For over 15 years, only three fugitives were being actively sought. At 11:50&nbsp;p.m. on 31 December 2011, Makoto Hirata surrendered himself to the police and was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the 1995 abduction of Kiyoshi Kariya, a non-member who had died during an Aum kidnapping and interrogation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Aum Shinrikyo cult fugitive surrenders to Japan police|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16377178|access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tokyo subway attack fugitive surrenders|date=1 January 2012|agency=AFP|publisher=News.com.au|url=http://www.news.com.au/world/tokyo-subway-attack-fugitive-surrenders/story-e6frfkyi-1226234294557|access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref><ref>[[Kyodo News]], "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120102x1.html 16-year Aum fugitive mum on life on run]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', January 2011, pg. 1.</ref> On 3 June 2012, police captured Naoko Kikuchi, the second fugitive, acting on a tip from local residents.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://japandailypress.com/additional-details-emerge-about-aum-cult-member-kikuchis-17-years-on-the-run-053368|title=Additional details emerge about Aum cult member Kikuchi's 17 years on the run|work=Japan Daily Press|date=5 June 2012|access-date=18 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201133312/http://japandailypress.com/additional-details-emerge-about-aum-cult-member-kikuchis-17-years-on-the-run-053368/|archive-date=1 February 2014|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Acting on information from the capture of Kikuchi, including recent photographs showing a modified appearance, the last remaining fugitive, Katsuya Takahashi, was captured on 15 June 2012. He is said to have been the driver in the Tokyo gas attack and was caught in Tokyo, having been on the run for 17 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18453996|title=Last Aum cult fugitive Katsuya Takahashi arrested in Japan|date=15 June 2012|publisher=BBC|access-date=18 January 2014}}</ref>

On 6 July 2018, Asahara and six other Aum Shinrikyo members were executed by [[hanging]].<ref name="executionjapantimes">{{cite news|url=https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Aum-founder-Asahara-mastermind-behind-1995-sarin-gas-attack-executed|title= Aum cult founder Asahara, 6 members hanged|date=6 July 2018|newspaper=Japan Today|access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="bbc-executions"/> Japan's Justice Minister [[Yōko Kamikawa]] stated that the crimes "plunged people, not only in Japan but in other countries as well, into deadly fear and shook society to its core." [[Amnesty International]] criticized the use of the death penalty in the case. While executions are rare in Japan, they have public support according to surveys.<ref name="execution2018">{{cite news|last1=Lies|first1=Elaine|last2=Takenaka|first2=Kiyoshi|title=Japan hangs seven members of doomsday cult that attacked subway with sarin|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-crime-sarin/several-ex-members-of-japan-doomsday-cult-including-leader-executed-media-idUSKBN1JW009|access-date=12 July 2018|work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> There were 13 members on death row at the time:

[[File:Anti-aum-flag-japan-2014-11-13.jpg|thumb|upright|An anti–Aum Shinrikyo banner in 2014]]
Aum Shinrikyo members executed on 6 July 2018:<ref name="executionjapantimes"/>
* [[Shoko Asahara]], leader of Aum Shinrikyo
* [[Yoshihiro Inoue]], Aum's "head of intelligence" and chief coordinator of the Tokyo subway attack
* [[Tomomitsu Niimi]], the getaway driver for [[Ikuo Hayashi]], one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway attack
* [[Tomomasa Nakagawa]], a perpetrator of the [[Sakamoto family murder]]
* [[Kiyohide Hayakawa]], Aum's "construction minister", convicted of strangling a young cult member in 1989, suspected of dissidence
* [[Seiichi Endo]], the "head scientist" of Aum Shinrikyo
* [[Masami Tsuchiya (terrorist)|Masami Tsuchiya]], Aum Shinrikyo's chief chemist and director of the sarin gas manufacturing

The six remaining Aum Shinrikyo members were executed on 26 July 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Japan-hangs-all-6-remaining-AUM-death-row-inmates|title=Japan hangs all 6 remaining Aum death row inmates|date=26 July 2018 }}</ref><ref name="sixremaining">{{cite news|title=Profiles of top Aum Shinrikyo members, including six still on death row|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/06/national/crime-legal/profiles-top-aum-shinrikyo-members-including-six-still-death-row|access-date=10 July 2018|work=The Japan Times Online|date=12 July 2018}}</ref>
* [[Yasuo Hayashi]], a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack
* [[Kenichi Hirose]], a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack
* [[Toru Toyoda]], a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack
* [[Masato Yokoyama]], a perpetrator of the Tokyo subway attack
* [[Kazuaki Okazaki]], a perpetrator of the Sakamoto family murder
* [[Satoru Hashimoto]], a perpetrator of the Sakamoto family murder

Initially, it was expected that Shoko Asahara's ashes would be collected by his youngest daughter according to his will. She urged her relatives and cult members to "put an end to the Aum and stop hating society". The ashes were kept at the detention center for fear of reprisals from other elements of the cult.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://japantoday.com/category/crime/daughter-of-japan-sarin-attack-cult-guru-to-get-his-ashes|title=Ashes of executed Aum leader to be scattered at sea|work=Japan Today |date=11 July 2018 }}</ref> In 2020 the Tokyo Family Court ruled that the second daughter, who had the "closest" relationship with her father, and who had repeatedly visited her father while he was incarcerated, should receive his hair and remains. On July 2, 2021, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the fourth daughter and upheld the ruling of the family court.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=July 6, 2021 |title=Top court: 2nd daughter gets executed Aum guru's remains |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14388551 |work=The Asahi Shimbun |location=Tokyo |access-date=October 3, 2024}}</ref> In 2024 the [[Tokyo District Court]] ordered the government to hand over the remains to the second daughter.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 March 2024 |title=Japan court orders government to hand over AUM founder remains to daughter |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/03/3ca5c9f9c19f-japan-court-orders-govt-to-hand-over-aum-founder-remains-to-daughter.html |language=en |work=Kyodo News |access-date=October 3, 2024}}</ref>