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On March 20, 1995, five individuals entered the Tokyo subway system carrying small containers of lethal sarin gas. As their trains neared the city center, each man quietly pierced his container with an umbrella tip and disembarked, leaving the sarin behind. The ensuing nerve gas cloud claimed 12 lives and injured up to 5,500 people. The city was thrown into chaos. Hospitals were overwhelmed. Subway stations looked like war zones. This marked the most devastating terrorist act in Japan's history.
By the summer, it became evident that Aum Shinrikyo was behind the attack. This doomsday cult, blending Buddhist and Christian doctrines with yoga practices, had persuaded its followers that hastening an apocalypse was necessary. However, the subway incident wasn’t an isolated event. It was the climax of a series of increasingly alarming events linked to Aum, each more terrifying than the previous.
10. The Horrific Sakamoto Killings
In 1989, Tsutsumi Sakamoto had much to celebrate. His wife had recently welcomed a baby boy, his legal career was flourishing, and he was gaining recognition for his efforts to challenge the emerging Aum cult in Tokyo. However, in November, Tsutsumi and his family disappeared without a trace. There was no note, no explanation, and no clues. Japanese investigators were left in the dark, uncertain whether the Sakamotos had fled or if a more sinister force was at play.
By 1996, during the extensive trials following the subway gas attack, Aum member Tomomasa Nakagawa was questioned about the cult’s previous crimes. The topic of the Sakamoto family’s disappearance arose. Nakagawa’s answer was bone-chilling. Aum, frustrated by the lawyer’s interference, had resolved to brutally murder Tsutsumi.
The initial plan was to kill him on his commute home. However, the chosen date fell on a public holiday. Unwilling to delay, the six assigned assassins opted to carry out the deed at the Sakamoto residence.
At 3:00 AM, they broke into the house. Tsutsumi and his wife were asleep. One cult member strangled Tsutsumi, while another nearly beat his wife to death before strangling her as well. Her final plea was, “Please spare the child.” Ignoring her, the cult members found the baby and suffocated him with his bedding. They then transported the bodies to a remote area and buried them in metal drums. Despite suspicions of Aum’s involvement, the authorities failed to conduct a thorough investigation. This was not the only instance where the police allowed Aum to evade justice.
9. Abductions and Extortion
For a newly established cult, Aum demonstrated remarkable sophistication in financing its operations. Members were required to pay for enlightenment, with exclusive seminars costing tens of thousands of dollars. The group even ventured into running a restaurant chain and selling computers. However, their primary source of income was extortion.
At its least harmful, the extortion involved large-scale blackmail. Towns and cities across Japan were informed of Aum’s plans to establish compounds in their areas and were offered the choice to pay hefty sums to prevent it. Most complied. More alarmingly, the cult collaborated with the Yakuza to produce and distribute illegal drugs.
The most severe tactic was kidnapping. Members were interrogated about their families’ wealth. If a relative was found to be affluent, they were often ordered to abduct them. One innkeeper was taken captive by his own daughters, subjected to torture, and coerced into surrendering 60 million yen. This method proved terrifyingly effective. By 1995, the cult’s net worth was estimated at approximately $1.5 billion.
8. They Constructed Their Own WMD Testing Site
In 1995, when Australian Federal Police raided the Banjawarn ranch, they entered a scene straight out of a nightmare. Scattered across remote areas of the property were the remains of sheep that had died in excruciating pain. Tests confirmed they had been poisoned with sarin. Inside the abandoned house, officers discovered a massive chemical weapons laboratory, fully equipped to produce nerve gas. It became horrifyingly clear that they had stumbled upon a testing ground for weapons of mass destruction.
Aum had acquired Banjawarn in early 1993, and the ranch had long been linked to suspicious activities. On May 28 of that year, local seismographs recorded an off-the-charts event. A deafening explosion echoed across the desert, followed by tremors felt miles away. Witnesses reported seeing a fireball shoot into the sky. After the 1995 raid, police found an active uranium mine on the property, leading some to believe the explosion was Aum testing a rudimentary nuclear device.
Although there’s no definitive proof that Aum developed a functional nuclear weapon, Banjawarn was undoubtedly the site of horrifying experiments. The group was later found to have been producing anthrax and nerve agents like Soman at the ranch, some of which were tested on the local wildlife.
7. They Executed Numerous Biological Attacks
As early as 1990, Aum’s leaders were plotting large-scale terror attacks. In April of that year, they outfitted a van to disperse a fine mist while driving and filled it with botulinum toxin. The group then drove through central Tokyo, targeting the Japanese parliament with one of the most lethal bacteria known to humanity.
Due to the cult’s limited knowledge of germ warfare, the attack released a non-lethal strain of the bacteria. However, this failure spurred them to aim for even more terrifying methods. Two years later, they obtained anthrax, an extremely deadly bacterium capable of causing horrifying deaths. If inhaled, anthrax is almost always fatal, even with medical intervention. Aum loaded their anthrax samples into large aerosol devices and attempted to disperse them across Tokyo.
A successful anthrax attack could have resulted in thousands of deaths. Fortunately, Aum had mistakenly acquired a vaccine strain that posed no threat to humans. However, their repeated failures with biological weapons led them to shift focus to sarin gas. By 1994, they had successfully tested their new weapon in Matsumoto, killing eight people and injuring nearly 500.
6. Horrific Assassinations
In 1994, Tadahiro Hamaguchi achieved a grim milestone in history. While walking late at night in Osaka, he became what is believed to be the first person ever killed by VX.
VX, a nerve agent developed by the British post-World War II, is exceptionally lethal, making sarin seem mild in comparison. A mere drop absorbed through the skin can cause death so rapidly that administering an antidote is impossible. During the mid-1990s, Aum employed this deadly substance to eliminate their adversaries.
Between 1994 and 1995, the cult executed over 10 VX assassinations, typically via injection. The sole survivor of a spray attack endured a 45-day hospital stay and fell into a coma. As harrowing as this was, it marked only the beginning of Aum’s extensive and horrifying assassination campaign.
Others were abducted and hanged on Aum’s premises, their bodies destroyed in specially designed microwaves. One such victim was Kiyoshi Kariya, a 68-year-old man whose brother was attempting to leave the group. Kariya was abducted, drugged, held captive, killed, and then cremated in one of Aum’s incinerators. His ashes were dumped into a lake, ensuring no trace of him would ever be discovered.
When Aum’s compounds were raided following the Tokyo subway attack, authorities found evidence that at least eight others had suffered the same horrific end. They also uncovered an assassination list. Had the cult not exposed themselves with the 1995 sarin attack, the number of victims incinerated in Aum’s ovens would likely have been far greater.
5. They Inflicted Torture on Their Own Members
A core belief of Aum was that followers must achieve enlightenment through suffering. While this might sound like a vague statement typical of many religious groups, Aum took it to extreme lengths. When suffering did not occur naturally, they inflicted torture on their own members to create it.
Most notably, this included their “thermotherapy” ritual. Members were submerged in boiling water to cleanse themselves, a practice that caused severe burns and at least one fatality. When physical suffering wasn’t sufficient, the cult resorted to psychological torment. Many initiation rites involved the forced consumption of drugs and hallucinogens, followed by public shaming. Followers were often unknowingly dosed with LSD.
For those attempting to leave the cult, the consequences were even more severe. Aum maintained its own prisons and torture facilities, concealed within large shipping containers. Suspected dissenters were subjected to brutal interrogation techniques, if not outright execution. Despite this, the cult’s popularity remained undiminished . . .
4. Massive Membership and Influence
Despite being a doomsday cult accused of murder and torturing its own members, Aum had no trouble attracting new recruits. At its peak in 1995, the group boasted around 50,000 members, primarily based in Russia. This substantial following translated into real power.
Aum’s presence in Russia was undeniably alarming. Within just a few years, the group had established its own university in Moscow and began recruiting disillusioned students. They even attempted to create a company, aiming to indoctrinate employees during economic hardships. By the mid-1990s, they were broadcasting nightly TV programs on Russia’s popular 2X2 channel and had their Japanese members trained in combat by Russian special forces.
This influence yielded significant results. The group actively sought out Russian nuclear scientists and even acquired a military attack helicopter. Funds poured in, and Aum became increasingly audacious.
3. They Remain Active
In the West, people often question why young individuals join ISIS, known for its extreme violence. In Japan, similar questions arise about Aum Shinrikyo.
Now operating under the name Aleph, the cult has declined from its peak in the 1990s but remains active. In November 2011, Japanese authorities estimated its membership at approximately 1,300, with 200 new members joining annually. While followers insist Aleph has reformed, others remain skeptical.
Even decades after the Tokyo gas attack, there are ongoing reports of Aleph indoctrinating its members. Some followers have been convicted of coercing relatives to join, raising doubts about whether the group has truly changed. In 1999, The Guardian revealed evidence of continued “thermotherapy” practices, despite their role in a member’s death. In 2000, cult members were caught attempting to collect sensitive information on nuclear facilities, and in 2001, several were arrested for a plot to bomb Russia.
Most notably, many survivors of the 1995 sarin attack still view Aleph as a danger to Japan. Concerns persist that society has forgotten the attack, leaving the door open for a similar tragedy. Japan’s security forces share this concern, and as of July 2015, Aleph remains under close watch.
2. The Second Gas Attack
In a chilling alternate scenario, the March 20 gas attack on the Tokyo subway would have been just the beginning. On May 5, 1995, two Aum members left a suspicious bag in the restroom of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station. Inside was a timed device designed to release a lethal cloud of cyanide gas beneath a major ventilation shaft. If successful, this second attack could have claimed up to 10,000 lives.
Its failure was due to sheer luck. A cleaner discovered the bag and moved it behind a door. By chance, the way she handled it dislodged the bomb’s trigger mechanism. When the timer expired, instead of detonating, the bag caught fire. Although this could have released the cyanide, bystanders noticed the flames and extinguished them, averting disaster.
Although two Aum members were eventually convicted for planting the cyanide bomb, the cult’s activities continued. Even with its leaders imprisoned, letter bombs were sent to Tokyo’s governor, injuring an official. Additional cyanide devices were placed on the subway, but these attempts were also thwarted.
Fortunately, the group’s reign couldn’t last. By late 1995, Aum was effectively dismantled. Police raids closed its chemical and biological weapons labs and seized its firearms. After causing over 30 deaths and nearly 6,000 injuries, Aum seemed finished. But then, the unthinkable occurred . . .
1. A Lethal Stockpile
Following the Tokyo subway attack, Japanese authorities raided Aum compounds nationwide in search of additional sarin. What they uncovered was horrifying. Aum had built massive chemical plants capable of producing sarin on a ton-scale. Sarin, a potent nerve agent, can induce seizures with just a single drop. Aum had amassed enough to wage a nationwide chemical war.
Sarin wasn’t the only weapon in Aum’s chemical warfare arsenal. Up to 80 members were involved in developing mustard gas, sodium cyanide, phosgene gas, tabun, and VX for use against civilians. Simultaneously, a biological warfare lab was producing a relentless stream of deadly agents. Anthrax, Ebola, and Q-Fever were all being weaponized, each capable of causing mass casualties.
By this point, the scale of Aum’s arsenal was evident. The group had also begun manufacturing AK-47s, producing enough to arm their own paramilitary force. They had acquired and modified a drone to disperse nerve agents from above. In total, Aum was found to be better equipped for warfare than many national armies. Their failure to deploy these resources more strategically was a stroke of sheer luck.
