CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/30/2025 (Aum Shinrikyo, Japan, Aleph, Podcast, Geelong Revival Centre, Australia)

Aum Shinrikyo, Japan,  Aleph, Podcast,  Geelong Revival Centre, Australia

The Asahi Shimbun: Son of executed Aum founder acknowledged as new cult leader Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult

"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."

History: America's Book of Secrets: What Draws People Into A Cult?

"What draws people into a cult and why can't they leave? Explore the psychology, power, and danger of cults, including a survivor's account of Jonestown and the government's response or lack of it. See more in Season 2, Episode 6, 'Deadly Cults.'"

The Canberra Times: 'You could hit kids': ex-members in 'cult' abuse claims

"Former members of a fundamentalist church have lifted the lid on abuse of kids and slammed working with children checks as a sham.

Ryan Carey was born into the Geelong Revival Centre, a Pentecostal doomsday church run by pastor Noel Hollins for more than six decades until his death in April 2024.

Mr Carey, whose father was second-in-command to Hollins, said the damage from his and others' time in the church lingers.

"I might have lived in the state of Victoria but I answered to the cult and the cult leader," he told a state parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday.

The inquiry into recruitment and retention methods of cults and organised fringe groups was green lit in April following claims of coercive practices within the church.

Mr Carey and his wife Catherine, who joined the church at age 19, were the first witnesses to give evidence at the public hearing.

He left the group in 2020, with Ms Carey following 18 months later with their two children.

The pair have since formed Stop Religious Coercion Australia and are pushing for more regulation and oversight of such groups.

"They use friends, family and fear to control their members," Mr Carey said.

The environments were the "most unsafe" for children, he added, pointing to the highly publicised case of a revival member being convicted of child sex abuse."

Suspension request for former Aum cult withdrawn

NHK.JP
November 19, 2021

Japan's public security authorities have withdrawn a request for stricter controls over the group Aleph, formerly known as the Aum Shinrikyo cult. The withdrawal came after the group submitted obligatory reports, although behind schedule.

Aum members carried out deadly sarin gas attacks on Tokyo's subway system in 1995. Aleph is under surveillance in accordance with a law aimed at preventing acts of indiscriminate mass murder. The group is required to report its activities every three months.

The Public Security Intelligence Agency on Friday withdrew its request filed with an external commission of the Justice Ministry.

The request, submitted last month, had asked for tighter restrictions on Aleph after the group failed to submit obligatory reports or respond to the agency's instructions.

Under the restrictions, Aleph was to be banned from using its facilities, soliciting new members and receiving donations for six months.

Aleph eventually submitted its quarterly activity reports for periods from February through last month.

The reports, however, lacked some necessary entries about the group's financial standings and membership descriptions.

As a result, more than 10 agency officials raided the group's facility in Tokyo's Adachi Ward on Friday morning. The venue is among Aleph's largest facilities in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The group at first resisted opening the facility to the officials, but finally allowed them in.

The agency is also considering giving further instructions to the group. If the group does not follow them, the agency may consider requesting fresh restrictions.



https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211119_15/

Aum Shinrikyo spinoff group Aleph ordered to pay ¥1.03 bil to victims

Japan Today

Apr. 11, 2019

The Tokyo District Court has ordered Aleph, a spinoff group of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo, to pay over one billion yen in compensation to victims of the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack that killed 13 people and injured thousands, as well as victims of other crimes committed by cult members in the 1980s and 1990s.

Shizue Takahashi, 72, who lost her husband in the March 20, 1995 sarin gas attack, told a press conference Wednesday: “I hope that Aleph adheres to the court’s ruling and begins proceeding with the payments. People are still suffering the effects of their crimes.”

The victims group filed a damages suit after Aleph failed to pay 1.03 billion yen in compensation as ordered by the court in 2009, Fuji TV reported. The court ordered Aleph to pay this amount in full and cease stalling. 

Last July, the Justice Ministry ordered the execution of all 13 cult members on death row, including Shoko Asahara, Aum Shinrikyo’s founder and the mastermind behind the sarin attack. The doomsday cult renamed itself to Aleph in February 2010.

https://japantoday.com/category/crime/aum-shinrikyo-spinoff-group-aleph-ordered-to-pay-%C2%A51-bil-to-victims

Tokyo residents protest against doomsday cult’s successor group

South China Morning Post
March 24, 2018

Renamed Aum Shinrikyo group target of angry demonstration to mark anniversary of subway sarin gas attack.

More than 200 people living near a Tokyo base of the main successor to the Aum Shinrikyo cult took to the streets on Saturday demanding the group disbands, with the execution of its guru and a number of former disciples seemingly imminent.

The residents marched around the Adachi Ward compound owned by Aleph, led by Adachi Mayor Yayoi Kondo who held a banner saying, “Absolutely against Aum.”

The demonstration was planned to coincide with the recent 23rd anniversary of the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 13 people and injured over 6,200, the worst of several attacks and crimes carried out by Aum followers.

Aum renamed itself Aleph in 2000 and two additional splinter groups formed. The Public Security Intelligence Agency continued to monitor the groups, believing they are still under the influence of Aum founder Shoko Asahara who is on death row along with 12 of his former disciples.

Residents of Kawaguchi, a Saitama Prefecture city adjoining Adachi Ward, and some from Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward where a facility of one of the splinter groups is located, joined Saturday’s demonstration.

According to the agency, the three groups have 1,650 followers in Japan, with 1,470 of them Aleph members.

The 13 death row inmates could be hanged anytime as the Aum-related trials over a series of crimes that left 29 people dead concluded in January.

“I’m worried what could happen after the executions,” said Hisashi Mizukami, who represents a group of Adachi residents protesting Aleph. “We will remain vigilant.”

Japan marks anniversary of Tokyo subway gas attack as 13 cult members brace for word they’ll be sent to the gallows.

Tuesday marks 23 years since members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult punctured plastic bags to release sarin nerve gas inside subway cars, sickening thousands and killing 13.

Japan on Tuesday marked the 23rd anniversary of a deadly sarin attack on the Tokyo metro, as speculation grows that members of the cult behind it could soon be executed.

At a solemn ceremony at Kasumigaseki station, one of the targets of the 1995 attacks which is surrounded by key government buildings, Tokyo subway staff gathered to observe a moment of silence and offer flowers.

Thirteen people were killed and thousands more injured when members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult dumped bags of sarin on packed rush hour trains, piercing the pouches with sharpened umbrella tips before fleeing.

The nerve agent caused horrendous deaths and injuries, and prompted mass panic, turning Japan’s busy capital city into something resembling a war zone.

Passengers streamed out of stations vomiting, coughing and struggling to breathe, with emergency services administering life-saving treatment by the side of the road.

Ambulances screamed through the streets, and helicopters landed on major roads to assist the evacuation of those affected.

On that day, Tokyo Metro worker Kazumasa Takahashi unwittingly picked up a punctured packet of the nerve gas from the floor of one of the trains at Kasumigaseki station.

He and another colleague died.

“I came here today, with the same feeling I have every year,” his widow Shizue told reporters at the station after paying tribute to her late husband.

“The health of some victims is deteriorating and some families are also going through a tremendously difficult time,” she said, adding that the passage of time had not healed the pain suffered by victims’ families.

After years of legal proceedings, the prosecution of 13 Aum Shinrikyo members on death row for the attacks and other crimes finally concluded in January, clearing the way for their execution.

Last week, authorities began separating and transferring them to different detention facilitiesequipped with the infrastructure to carry out executions by hanging.

The transfers have prompted speculation that cult leader Shoko Asahara and the 12 of his followers on death row could soon be executed, though there has been no official indication.

Japanese authorities usually announce executions after the fact, with no advance warning.

Even prisoners sent to the gallows are not notified until guards come to their cells in the morning. After a chat with a chaplain, a last bite or smoke, the prisoner is taken to the gallows.

If all subway attack convicts are hanged, it would be largest number executed on a single day in Japan’s modern history.

Japan on January 24, 1911, hanged 11 political prisoners who allegedly plotted to assassinate the emperor.

Shizue Takahashi said the fast speed of transfers initially startled her, but stressed that the executions must proceed in due course.

http://m.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2138760/tokyo-residents-protest-against-doomsday-cults-successor-group

Japan launches website on Aum cult in bid to raise public awareness of splinter groups

KYODO
February  27, 2018

The Public Security Intelligence Agency has set up the government’s first website about the Aum Shinrikyo cult and the series of crimes it committed — including the deadly 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack — with the aim of broadening the public’s awareness of the group, which now has three offshoots still in operation.

The site hosts writings by victims and grieving families. The website — accessible at www.moj.go.jp/psia/aum-23nen.html — also provides court testimonies by former cult members as well as photos. The website is only provided in Japanese.

The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in March 1995 killed 13 people and left more than 6,200 others ill. An earlier June 1994 sarin attack occurred near judge housing in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, killing eight people.

Shizue Takahashi, 71, whose husband, a subway station officer who was killed in the 1995 attack, wrote on the website that her “heart has continued to be shaken to this day.” She provided copies of her husband’s medical treatment records following the attack and his post-mortem certificate. Writings by two others are also posted on the website.

In addition to the two attacks, the website provides details on about 15 criminal cases, including the 1989 murder of anti-Aum lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto as well as his wife and son.

Aum Shinrikyo has split into three groups: One called Aleph, an offshoot of Aleph, and Hikari no Wa (Circle of Rainbow Light). The last group was launched by former Aum Shinrikyo spokesman Fumihiro Joyu, 55, according to the agency. The three groups are estimated to have 1,650 followers in total.

The agency said members of the first two groups have a more pronounced faith in the Aum founder and death row inmate Shoko Asahara, 62, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/27/national/japan-launches-website-aum-cult-bid-raise-public-awareness-splinter-groups/

Aleph raided over alleged lease fraud

Facility in Kyoto owned by Aleph

Japan Times
February 19, 2018

KYOTO – Police on Monday raided facilities of the main successor group to doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo in connection with an alleged case of fraud involving a condominium lease, investigators said.

The facilities of the group, known as Aleph, are in Kyoto’s Minami Ward and are believed to have been used for training and other purposes.

Aum Shinrikyo was responsible for the 1995 sarin attack on Tokyo’s subway system that killed 13 people and injured more than 6,000. The cult, led by guru Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, renamed itself Aleph in 2000.

According to the Public Security Intelligence Agency, Aleph has about 1,500 followers and has seen an increase in young members in recent years.

In some cases, Aleph has been luring young followers without disclosing that it is a religious group or informing them of its links to Aum and its criminal history, according to police officials.

Aleph has also set up yoga classes as a means to encourage potential followers to join, they said.

The cult has two other successors, Hikari no Wa (Circle of Rainbow Light) and an offshoot of Aleph.

In November, the police searched facilities used by Aleph in Sapporo and Fukuoka on suspicion that the group swindled a young woman out of tens of thousands of yen in membership fees without having her fill out the legally required paperwork.

Out of Aleph’s followers, about 300 live in Hokkaido, which has the largest concentration of members among the 47 prefectures.

A four-story building the police searched in Sapporo’s Shiroishi Ward is thought to be its largest facility.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/19/national/crime-legal/aleph-raided-alleged-lease-fraud/

Offices of Aum successor Adelph raided over recruiting practices

Police officers stand guard during a search of a facility.

KYODO
Japan times
November 13, 2017

SAPPORO – Police on Monday searched five offices and facilities of the main successor group to the Aum Shinrikyo cult that was responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway nerve gas attack.

The raids came after the group, now known as Aleph, allegedly recruited and collected tens of thousands of yen in membership fees from a woman in February without having her fill out the legally required paperwork.

The Hokkaido Prefectural Police raided a four-story building in Shiroishi Ward, Sapporo. The building is thought to be Aleph’s largest facility.

Of the five locations police said they searched, two were in Sapporo and one was in Fukuoka. It wasn’t immediately known where the other two were.

Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult killed 13 people and injured more than 6,000 in the sarin attack on March 20, 1995. It renamed itself Aleph in 2000.

The police believe Aleph has been luring young followers without disclosing that it is a religious group and without informing them of its links to Aum and its criminal history.

According to the police, there were about 1,500 Aleph followers across the country last year.

The number of followers is on the increase, and many of the younger people who join its ranks are apparently unaware of Aum’s criminal background.

Aleph has organized a number of yoga classes as a means of encouraging potential followers to join, according to the police.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/11/13/national/crime-legal/offices-aum-successor-adelph-raided-recruiting-practices/#.WgmkqluPLu8

Surveillance of doomsday cult spin-off group ended by judge

Fumihiro Joyu of Hikari no Wa

RYOTA GOTO
Asahi Shimbun
September 26, 2017

A court lifted government surveillance of an offshoot of Aum Shinrikyo, the doomsday cult that orchestrated deadly sarin gas attacks on Tokyo's subway system in 1995.

Hikari no Wa (Circle of light) split from Aleph, formerly Aum Shinrikyo, in 2007, but a surveillance order imposed on Aum continued to be applied to both Aleph and later Hikari no Wa.

Tokyo District Court Presiding Judge Toshiyuki Hayashi revoked the order for Hikari no Wa on Sept. 25, which has been active for a decade, saying it was “unlawful as it is a separate group from Aleph.”

The judge reasoned Sept. 25 that Hikari no Wa “is quite different in nature (from Aleph), manifested in its refusal of absolute devotion to Chizuo Matsumoto (Shoko Asahara), the Aum Shinrikyo founder on death row, and other aspects.”

Hikari no Wa took the case to court claiming the renewal of the surveillance order of 2015 was illegal. It argued that placing it under surveillance based on the organization control law, special legislation that took effect in 1999 to keep tabs on Aum Shinrikyo's activities, was unjustified.

The government placed Aum under surveillance in 2000.

In 1995, Aum Shinrikyo carried out the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system that left 13 people dead and thousands sickened.

Later it came to light that the cult carried out countless criminal acts, including murder and another sarin gas attack.

The surveillance order was renewed every three years. When the group renamed itself Aleph in 2000, the order stayed with it.

In 2007, Hikari no Wa, led by Fumihiro Joyu, split from Aleph. The government continued its surveillance on both and renewed the surveillance order against them in 2009, 2012 and 2015.

When a group is under surveillance based on the organization control law, the Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA) has the authority to inspect facilities related to it, and the group is required to regularly reveal names of members and other details.

“The unjust order that continued a decade significantly breached our human rights,” said Joyu at a news conference in Tokyo the same day after the group's success in court. “We are going to demand compensation from the government.”

A PSIA official said the decision was “out of blue.”

“If the decision is finalized, it will be difficult for us to grasp the activities of the group and that may cause security concerns for the public,” the official said.

The surveillance order on Aleph was not part of this case and remains in force.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201709260033.html

Doomsday cult leader Shoko Asahara was ‘criminal’ says member on death row

South China Morning Post
KYODO
December 16, 2016

A former senior member of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult who is on death row has described the founder and “guru” he once revered, Shoko Asahara, as a “criminal” in a recently published memoir.

Tomomasa Nakagawa, convicted for his role in producing sarin used in the deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, said in the six-page article in the November edition of Japanese magazine Chemistry Today that Asahara transformed what was otherwise a religious group into one that produced chemical weapons and perpetrated murder.

The terror attack on the subway system killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured.

In the memoir, Nakagawa, 54, referred to the founder as “Mr Asahara” and said he “chose those who deeply trusted him and ordered them to take actions” such as committing murder and manufacturing chemical weapons.

Daughter of Aum Shinri Kyo doomsday cult founder ‘sorry to be alive’

He said Asahara’s “ability to lead yoga and meditation was extremely high” and that none of the cult members, including himself, imagined they would become involved in such actions as killing when they joined the group.

Nakagawa’s death sentence was finalised in 2011. The 61-year-old Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is also still on death row.

His memoir also carried a personal apology to victims of the attack, as well as details of sarin production.

Nakagawa decided to write the article after being encouraged by Anthony Tu, a Colorado State University emeritus professor and toxicologist researching a string of incidents involving the cult. Tu, 86, has been visiting Nakagawa while in prison since 2011.

Nakagawa recounted that after succeeding in manufacturing about 30kg of sarin compound in February 1994, they spread about 12 litres of it in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture in June that year. This eventually resulted in a “major incident”, he said.

Aum Shinri Kyo is also known for having staged a sarin gas attack in a residential area of Matsumoto in central Japan on June 27, 1994, which killed eight people.

In producing sarin, one needs to have graduate school-level knowledge and experience in chemistry, and special equipment and systems must be in place to treat those who may have been poisoned by sarin, Nakagawa said.

Sarin gas attack survivor recalls near miss on Tokyo subway

He added, however, that it is hard now to obtain raw materials for sarin production and ruled out the possibility of another terror attack with sarin in Japan.

“If the investigative authorities pay close attention, it would be nearly impossible for such an act to be carried out,” Nakagawa said.

Death sentences have been finalised for 10 members of the cult in connection with the attack and other crimes, while sentences of life in prison have been finalised for four others.

In 2000, Aum Shinri Kyo was renamed Aleph. In 2007, senior Aleph member Fumihiro Joyu left the group to establish a separate group – Hikarinowa, or the Circle of Rainbow.

http://m.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2055174/doomsday-cult-leader-shoko-asahara-was-criminal-says-member

Aum Shinrikyo included on terrorist list - FSB

MOSCOW, November 2 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on its website on Wednesday that Aum Shinrikyo had been included on the list of terrorist organizations.

In September, the Supreme Court of Russia declared Aum Shinrikyo a terrorist organization and banned its activity in the country. The ruling took effect on October 25.

A case over illegal activities of the organization was launched in April. According to the Investigative Committee, searches were conducted in Moscow and St. Petersburg in order to identify individuals who could be involved in the sect activities and to find literature, documents and other evidentiary items that are germane to the case.

Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) was set up in 1987 by Chizuo Matsumoto (aka Shoko Asahara). It combined Buddhist and Hindu meditation practices and apocalyptic teachings and was believed to have between 30,000 and 50,000 followers, with more than 10,000 members in Russia, where Aum was engaged in missionary activity and economic enterprise. The sect was banned worldwide in 1995, with Russia leading the crackdown.

In 1994, Aum Shinrikyo members dispersed sarin gas in Matsumoto, Nagano, killing seven people. After the March '95 attack on Tokyo, police arrested about 30 of the sect leaders, some of whom, including Shoko Asahara, were sentenced to death.

Now operating under the name of Aleph, the cult is still in business and is believed to have between 1,000 and 2,000 members in Japan.

http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20161102/277062016.html