Category: Hikari no Wa

A court has ruled that the Tokyo Metropolitan government must pay damages, and apologize, to Aleph — the successor of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult — for suggesting Aum was responsible for the attempted murder of Japan’s national chief of police.

Aum Shinrikyo is best known for its March 20, 1995 terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system, during which cult members released nerve gas.

The Public Security Intelligence Agency in Japan on Friday inspected several properties of Hikari no Wa — a splinter group of the notorious Aum Shinrikyo cult.

Security officials believe the group is still under the influence of cult founder Shoko Asahara, who is on death row for a series of AUM crimes.

Japanese authorities on Monday raided buildings used by the doomsday cult behind the 1995 deadly sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway, news reports said.

The agency decided to file the request with the Public Security Examination Commission, concluding that the group could commit indiscriminate mass murders because it is still under the strong influence of founder, Chizuo Matsumoto, 53, also known as Shoko Asahara.

The agency also asked for the surveillance extension to include Hikari no Wa, a new group established by Fumihiro Joyu, a 45-year-old former senior Aum member. The agency believes the splinter group is still integral to the cult.

Public safety officials on Thursday conducted their first inspection on the Tokyo headquarters of a cult group led by former AUM Shinrikyo leader Fumihiro Joyu and other relevant places after the group reported their inauguration earlier this week.

The leader of a group that split off from the doomsday cult behind the deadly 1995 Tokyo subway gassing declared Wednesday that his group no longer follows the teachings of his jailed former guru.

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.