Shoko Asahara

Shoko Asahara
Shoko Asahara
Born	March 2, 1955 (age 69); Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan
Occupation(s)	Founder, Aum Shinrikyo
Spouse	Tomoko
Children	Rika

Shoko Asahara (麻原彰晃, Asahara Shōkō), born Chizuo Matsumoto (松本智津夫, Matsumoto Chizuo) on March 2, 1955, is a founder of the controversial Japanese new religious group Aum Shinrikyo, now called Aleph. Asahara has been convicted of masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and several other crimes, and has been sentenced to death. His legal team appealed the sentence, but the appeal has been declined, and he is currently awaiting execution.

Early years

Shoko Asahara was born into a large, poor family of tatami mat makers in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture. Afflicted at birth with infantile glaucoma, he went blind at a young age in his left eye and is only partially sighted in his right. As a child, Asahara was enrolled in a school for the blind. ^{[citation needed]}

Asahara graduated in 1977 and turned to the study of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, which are traditional careers for the blind in Japan.^[1] He married in 1978.

In 1981, Asahara was convicted of practicing pharmacy without a license and fined 200,000 yen.^{[citation needed]}

Asahara's religious quest reportedly started at this time, while he was intensely working to support his family. He dedicated his free time to the study of various religious concepts, starting with Chinese astrology and Taoism. Later, Asahara practiced Indian esoteric yoga and Buddhism.

Relatively little is known about this period of Asahara's life.

Birth of Aum Shinrikyo

In 1987, Asahara returned from a visit to India and explained to his disciples that he had attained his ultimate goal: enlightenment. His closest disciples offered him money, which he could now accept, and Asahara used this money to organize an intensive yoga seminar that lasted several days and attracted many people interested in spiritual development.^{[citation needed]} Asahara himself coached the participants, and the group quickly started to grow.

That same year Shoko Asahara officially changed his name, and applied for government registration of the group Aum Shinrikyo. The authorities were initially reluctant to accord it the status of a religious organization, but eventually granted legal recognition after an appeal in 1989. After this, a monastic order was established and many of the lay followers decided to join.

Aum Shinrikyo: the doctrine

The doctrine of Aum Shinrikyo is based on the original Buddhist sutras (scriptures) known as the Pali Canon. Other than the Pali Canon, Aum Shinrikyo uses other texts such as Tibetan sutras, Yoga-Sutra by Patanjali, and Taoist scriptures. The sutras are studied together with comments written by Shoko Asahara himself. The learning system (kyogaku system) has several stages: only those who complete a preliminary stage may advance to further steps, and only after successfully passing an examination.

Shoko Asahara has written many religious books. The best known are Beyond Life and Death, Mahayana Sutra and Initiation.

Tokyo subway gas attack, accusations, and trial

On March 20, 1995, members of Aum attacked the Tokyo Subway System with the nerve gas sarin. Twelve commuters died, and thousands more suffered from after-effects. After finding sufficient evidence, authorities accused Aum Shinrikyo of complicity in the attack, as well as in a number of smaller-scale incidents. Tens of disciples were arrested, Aum's facilities were raided, and the court issued an order for Shoko Asahara's arrest. Asahara was discovered in a very small, completely isolated room of a building belonging to Aum.

Shoko Asahara faced 27 murder counts in 13 separate indictments. The prosecution argued that Asahara "gave orders to attack the Tokyo Subway" in order to "overthrow the government and install himself in the position of Emperor of Japan". Several years later, the prosecution forwarded an additional theory that the attacks were ordered to "divert police attention" (from Aum). The prosecution also accused Asahara of masterminding the Matsumoto incident and the Sakamoto family murder. According to Asahara's defense team, a group of senior followers initiated the atrocities, keeping them a secret from Asahara. There is no point in the events other than alienating followers from the group and the teaching. Following the events, disciples started to disseminate the teachings by way of direct coaching, something they would never do when Asahara was available for communication. A small group of those who failed to do so still formally exists.

During the trials, some of the disciples testified against Asahara, and he was found guilty on 13 of 17 charges, including the Sakamoto family murder, while four charges were dropped. He was sentenced to death by hanging on February 27, 2004.

The trial was called the "trial of the century" by the Japanese media. Yoshihiro Yasuda, the most experienced attorney on Shoko Asahara's defence team, was arrested and was unable to participate in his legal defence, though he was acquitted before the end of the trial. Human Rights Watch criticized Yasuda's isolation. Asahara was thus defended solely by court-appointed lawyers. He personally requested that he not be defended. He communicated with the lawyers for a time, but ultimately, stopped.

In the course of the trials Asahara, resigned from his position of Aum Shinrikyo representative to help prevent forceful dissolution of the group.

The legal team appealed against the ruling on the grounds that Asahara was mentally unfit, and psychiatric examinations were undertaken. During the examination, conducted by a psychiatrist, Asahara never talked. However, he communicated with the staff at his detainment facility, which convinced the examiner that Asahara was maintaining his silence out of free will (as stated in the report). Because his lawyers didn't submit the statement of reason for appeal, Tokyo high court decided not to grant them leave to appeal on March 27, 2006. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Japan on September 15, 2006. Two re-trial appeals were declined by the appellate court.

Controversies related to Aum Shinrikyo publications

In the years preceding the 1995 incidents, Aum Shinrikyo has published a series of publications, such as much cited Vajrayana Sacca ('Vajrayana Truth'). In Japan, where conspiracy theories are sold in millions of copies in major bookstores,^{[citation needed]} Judeo-Mason conspiracy theory where Japan has fallen victim of a plot to drag the country into the WWII and subjugated into slavery after its defeat, Vajrayana Sacca articles attempted to move the attention of their reader into the world of Buddhism and Yoga. Militant in tone, they advocated that "the only way to defeat" those bent on controlling the world is "spiritual practice." To convince the technocrat Japanese, Asahara argued that "even if a nuclear bomb is dropped" where you are, you can easily "defend yourself by creating a shield of plasma around yourself" or "if sufficient amount of spiritual practitioners" are being "born" then a plasma shield covering all of Japan is a no-brainer.^{[citation needed]}

Another much debated point is whether the Tibetan Government-In-Exile leader the Dalai Lama XIV has met, endorsed or supported Asahara and Aum Shinrikyo. He did meet Asahara^{[citation needed]}, his inner circle members supported Aum Shinrikyo during the time when the group struggled to obtain the legal religious organization status. Later, direct contacts ceased and Asahara started to criticize the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism. This was long before any wrongdoings related to the group has become known.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ "JAPANESE ACUPUNCTURE: Blind Acupuncturists, Insertion Tubes, Abdominal Diagnosis, and the Benten Goddess", Subhuti Dharmananda, Institute for Traditional Medicine. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.

External links

Aleph: the organization's official website, with an English section
A Japan Times article about two documentary films on Aleph.

[1] "JAPANESE ACUPUNCTURE: Blind Acupuncturists, Insertion Tubes, Abdominal Diagnosis, and the Benten Goddess", Subhuti Dharmananda, Institute for Traditional Medicine. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.

[1]

v t e Aleph
Formerly known as Aum Shinrikyo
Leadership	Shoko Asahara Seiichi Endo Satoru Hashimoto Kiyohide Hayakawa Ikuo Hayashi Yasuo Hayashi Kenichi Hirose Yoshihiro Inoue Fumihiro Joyu Hideo Murai Tomomasa Nakagawa Tomomitsu Niimi Kazuaki Okazaki Toru Toyoda Masami Tsuchiya Masato Yokoyama
Criticism	United States State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (removed in 2022)
Incidents	Sakamoto family murder (1989) Matsumoto incident (1994) Tokyo subway sarin attack (1995)
Media	A (film) Me and the Cult Leader (film) The Story of Kamikuishiki Village (video game) Underground (book)
Sects/Offshoots	Hikari no Wa
Related	2019 Tokyo car attack Kamikuishiki
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