Japan’s execution of a doomsday cult leader and his disciples over a 1995 sarin gas attack may draw a line under the horrific saga, but hundreds of people are still signing up to Aum Shinrikyo’s successor groups each year, authorities say. The last six members of the cult
Japan’s execution of a doomsday cult leader and his disciples over a 1995 sarin gas attack may draw a line under the horrific saga, but hundreds of people are still signing up to Aum Shinrikyo’s successor groups each year, authorities say.
The last six members of the cult on death row were hanged on Thursday over the Tokyo subway attack that killed 13, just weeks after the group’s near-blind “guru” Shoko Asahara was executed along with six other followers.
While the high-profile case served as a warning over the dangers of cults, the executions are unlikely to end the allure of such groups in Japan, said Kimiaki Nishida, professor of social psychology at Tokyo’s Rissho University.
“We know that their followers didn’t have a happy end,” he told AFP. “But I’m afraid cults will continue to exist, since society cannot solve every problem, while cults offer the fantasy that they have the answers to everything.”
Aum successor groups have around 1,650 members in Japan, and hundreds more in Russia, according to Japan’s Public Security Intelligence Agency.
It says the groups attract around 100 new followers a year through activities such as yoga and fortune-telling.
Japanese have also flocked to religious sects that are considered cults in some parts of Europe but are tolerated in Japan, including the Soka Gakkai, which is based on Buddhism and has millions of members worldwide.
Unlike some European countries, where groups ranging from the Church of Scientology to the Unification Church are considered “cults”, Japan takes a relatively open view towards what are often simply called “newly emerged religions”.
