Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 56
arms in, renting an apartment-hideout for Asahara, and so on. In December 1999,
Shigachev and Topeko rode the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok with
three sandbags filled with hand grenades, handmade bombs, and Tokarev and Kalashnikov
firearms and ammunition. The following March, Shigachev traveled to Tokyo to scout the
terrain.
Bombs were to be placed at Ueno Station, Shibuya Parco, a Shinjuku high-rise, a Shinagawa
hotel, and in a gas storage facility of the Tokyo Detention Center, where Asahara is being
held. Then the Japanese government would be warned: Free Asahara or expose the
metropolis to devastating death and destruction. Meanwhile, eerily foreshadowing the flying
lessons taken by the Sept. 11 hijackers, the three men apparently took boating lessons as
part of their preparations to spirit Asahara across the Sea of Japan to Russia.
Voronov's Chechen mother said: "My son was working with an oil exploration team in
Chechnya when he fell from a tower. The doctors could do nothing for him. He visited
Asahara, and in three days his injuries healed. That's when he became a believer. We
escaped the Chechen war. In Russia we were recognized as refugees, but were given no
support. We drifted to Vladivostok. There was nothing here either. I can understand why my
son became involved in something like this ..."(Japan Times, 12/23/01, Internet)
Aum Leadership Change /Japan
Fumihiro Joyu, 39, a longtime spokesman for the Aum Shinrikyo cult and its de facto
number two man, has announced that he will take over the group. He told a news
conference at an Aum facility in Tokyo's Setagawa Ward that current leader Tatsuko
Muraoka, 51, will step down and become chairwoman. (Kyodo News, Japan Today,
12/28/01, Internet)
Warning on AUM's "Open Door" Policy /Japan
Aum Shinrikyo is trying to increase its appeal by portraying itself as an ''open cult'' in an
effort to expand its operations, according to the annual report of the Public Security
Investigation Agency. The report says that the group has established new headquarters at
three Minami-Karasuyama condominium complexes in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, where the
cult's regional leaders from across Japan meet monthly. The group has now opened a total
of 11 facilities to local residents and posted contact numbers for more than 600 Aum
followers on its Web site.
Searches of Aum facilities by the agency have uncovered a number of collections of Aum
founder Shoko Asahara's preaching, discoveries the agency says reconfirm the cult's
''deceptive character.'' The cult has amassed huge funds through operating a series of
personal computer shops and conducting ''initiations'' at which it collects monetary
offerings. (Kyodo, 12/22 and 23/01, Internet)
Death Penalty Sought for Aum Leader /Japan
Prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for former Aum leader Tomomitsu Niimi, the
group's former "home affairs minister." He is being tried for the murders of 26 people in
seven separate attacks, including the 1995 subway operation. Niimi gained notoriety at the
start of his trial in 1996 by refusing to enter pleas and pledging eternal loyalty to Aum guru
Shoko Asahara. He is also accused of helping to organize the 1989 strangulation of lawyer
Tsutsumi Sakamoto, one of the first people to raise questions about the cult's activities.
Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is being tried separately for allegedly
masterminding the subway gas attack and other killings. The cult, which advocated
overthrowing the Japanese government by sowing chaos, was declared bankrupt in March
1996 but has regrouped under a new name, Aleph. It is under surveillance by Japan's Public
Safety Agency, which has warned that the group is still a threat. (AP, 12/26/01, Internet)
arms in, renting an apartment-hideout for Asahara, and so on. In December 1999,
Shigachev and Topeko rode the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok with
three sandbags filled with hand grenades, handmade bombs, and Tokarev and Kalashnikov
firearms and ammunition. The following March, Shigachev traveled to Tokyo to scout the
terrain.
Bombs were to be placed at Ueno Station, Shibuya Parco, a Shinjuku high-rise, a Shinagawa
hotel, and in a gas storage facility of the Tokyo Detention Center, where Asahara is being
held. Then the Japanese government would be warned: Free Asahara or expose the
metropolis to devastating death and destruction. Meanwhile, eerily foreshadowing the flying
lessons taken by the Sept. 11 hijackers, the three men apparently took boating lessons as
part of their preparations to spirit Asahara across the Sea of Japan to Russia.
Voronov's Chechen mother said: "My son was working with an oil exploration team in
Chechnya when he fell from a tower. The doctors could do nothing for him. He visited
Asahara, and in three days his injuries healed. That's when he became a believer. We
escaped the Chechen war. In Russia we were recognized as refugees, but were given no
support. We drifted to Vladivostok. There was nothing here either. I can understand why my
son became involved in something like this ..."(Japan Times, 12/23/01, Internet)
Aum Leadership Change /Japan
Fumihiro Joyu, 39, a longtime spokesman for the Aum Shinrikyo cult and its de facto
number two man, has announced that he will take over the group. He told a news
conference at an Aum facility in Tokyo's Setagawa Ward that current leader Tatsuko
Muraoka, 51, will step down and become chairwoman. (Kyodo News, Japan Today,
12/28/01, Internet)
Warning on AUM's "Open Door" Policy /Japan
Aum Shinrikyo is trying to increase its appeal by portraying itself as an ''open cult'' in an
effort to expand its operations, according to the annual report of the Public Security
Investigation Agency. The report says that the group has established new headquarters at
three Minami-Karasuyama condominium complexes in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, where the
cult's regional leaders from across Japan meet monthly. The group has now opened a total
of 11 facilities to local residents and posted contact numbers for more than 600 Aum
followers on its Web site.
Searches of Aum facilities by the agency have uncovered a number of collections of Aum
founder Shoko Asahara's preaching, discoveries the agency says reconfirm the cult's
''deceptive character.'' The cult has amassed huge funds through operating a series of
personal computer shops and conducting ''initiations'' at which it collects monetary
offerings. (Kyodo, 12/22 and 23/01, Internet)
Death Penalty Sought for Aum Leader /Japan
Prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for former Aum leader Tomomitsu Niimi, the
group's former "home affairs minister." He is being tried for the murders of 26 people in
seven separate attacks, including the 1995 subway operation. Niimi gained notoriety at the
start of his trial in 1996 by refusing to enter pleas and pledging eternal loyalty to Aum guru
Shoko Asahara. He is also accused of helping to organize the 1989 strangulation of lawyer
Tsutsumi Sakamoto, one of the first people to raise questions about the cult's activities.
Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is being tried separately for allegedly
masterminding the subway gas attack and other killings. The cult, which advocated
overthrowing the Japanese government by sowing chaos, was declared bankrupt in March
1996 but has regrouped under a new name, Aleph. It is under surveillance by Japan's Public
Safety Agency, which has warned that the group is still a threat. (AP, 12/26/01, Internet)
