---

Kyodo News Service, Japan
May 7, 2007
home.kyodo.co.jp

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 18181 • Posted: Monday May 7, 2007  

---

Kyodo — Followers of former AUM Shinrikyo spokesman Fumihiro Joyu reported to the Public Security Intelligence Agency on Monday that they have officially organized themselves into a new group consisting of 163 members, the agency said.

The group, called “Hikari no Wa” (Circle of Light), comprises 57 live-in followers, including Joyu and nine other executives, and 106 lay members, according to the agency.

The new group will also be subject to surveillance under the law just like AUM, which renamed itself Aleph in 2000, the agency said.

The group endorsed its rules at a meeting of executives Saturday and plans to hold a conference of all members on Tuesday, followed by a press conference by Joyu to explain the background and aims of the new group, it said.

Joyu, 44, said in March that he has left AUM along with members close to him to set up a new organization to signal his intention of completely discarding the influence of AUM founder Shoko Asahara.

AUM has been divided between Joyu’s group which is critical of Asahara and another group supportive of him.

Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is on death row for a series of crimes committed by AUM, including the 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system that left 12 people dead.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Aum Shinrikyo, Hikari no Wa Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Aum Shinrikyo, Hikari no Wa Read Another Article Previous entry: Faithful come to hear Antichrist Next entry: The LDS Church and politics RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Aum Shinrikyo Most Popular Today Guyana’s Jonestown suicide site gets plaque Scientology practices ‘putting people at risk’ Recession: Muslim schools in UK under threat of closure 1-year prison term for man who participated in cyber attack on Church of Scientology Web sites Australian police take up complaints about Scientology Appeals court upholds removal of children from cult leader’s compound Born in U.S., a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror Scientology’s feet held to the fire in Australia: Struggle between a church and the state

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.