July 23, 2025
The second son of executed Aum Shinrikyo leader Chizuo Matsumoto has emerged as the “second-generation guru” and de facto leader of the doomsday cult’s successor group, Aleph, according to the Public Security Intelligence Agency.
The confirmation by the PSIA underscores the government’s continued scrutiny of individuals linked to Matsumoto, who also went by the name of Shoko Asahara.
Matsumoto was executed in 2018. He masterminded the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 14 people and sickened thousands.
The agency announced on July 22 that his second son has been steering Aleph’s operations for nearly a decade.
It also determined that Matsumoto’s widow plays a key supporting role in aiding her son’s leadership.
Additionally, the agency has submitted a request to a Justice Ministry commission to extend an order that restricts Aleph’s activities, including the use of its facilities and acceptance of donations.
It marks the sixth consecutive request in this regard. The current order, for six months, is set to expire on Sept. 20.
And in an unprecedented move, the agency sought to prohibit Aleph from acquiring or leasing new facilities in 12 prefectures, including Hokkaido, Saitama and Chiba.
As of April 2025, the group operated around 20 facilities nationwide and had an estimated 1,190 followers, according to the PSIA.
In its latest request, the agency for the first time listed the son, along with another individual, as leaders of Aleph.
The announcement comes on the heels of the discovery in April of tens of millions of yen in cash hidden in an apartment in Saitama Prefecture where Matsumoto’s widow and second son lived.
The series of crackdown efforts is being carried out under legislation targeting organizations responsible for indiscriminate mass murder, a law intended to keep Aum Shinrikyo’s successors under surveillance.
NAMED HEIR
According to the PSIA, Matsumoto’s son got involved in Aleph’s decision-making and began performing its religious rituals around 2014. It said he has referred to himself as a guru since at least 2017.
This aligns with the founder’s wishes; Matsumoto designated his son as his successor after his arrest in 1995.
Last fall, voice recordings surfaced on social media in which the son declared himself a new guru. Authorities later confirmed they were authentic.
This, along with other evidence, led officials to determine that the son is the de facto leader of Aleph.
The PSIA acknowledged that it had not been able to fully uncover Aleph’s internal workings until recently, attributing the delay to the group’s “extremely secretive and deceptive nature.”
The son’s rise to leadership follows internal divisions within Aleph.
Around 2013, Matsumoto’s wife and her supporters attempted to install the son as the group’s leader.
This move was strongly opposed by Matsumoto’s third daughter, resulting in a splinter faction known as the Yamada group, which began operating independently in 2015.
Even after his death, Matsumoto’s influence continues to haunt Japan through Aleph and other affiliated remnants of the doomsday cult.
https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/15922824
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