Victims Of 1995 Tokyo Sarin Attack Remembered
Friday marks 25 years since the deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
Members of the cult released the toxic nerve agent inside morning rush-hour commuter trains on three lines in central Tokyo on March 20, 1995. Fourteen people were killed and about 6,300 others injured.
At Kasumigaseki subway station, one of those targeted, station officials offered silent prayers at 8 a.m., almost the exact time of the attacks 25 years ago.
Survivors and bereaved relatives offered flowers at an altar set up inside the station.
Thirteen Aum Shinrikyo members were convicted and sentenced to death for crimes committed by the cult, including leader Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto. All were executed in 2018.
Shizue Takahashi, whose husband was the assistant stationmaster at Kasumigaseki and was killed in the attack, said she has spent the past 25 years believing her husband is still with her.
She also urged young people not to get involved with successors to the cult. She said the groups are operating under different names, but their nature has not changed.
Japan's security authorities are closely monitoring the cult groups.
The Public Security Intelligence Agency says the successor groups of Aum Shinrikyo have around 1,650 followers, up about 150 from 10 years ago.
They believe that the groups' members still follow Asahara's teachings, and warn that the number of followers in their 20s is on the rise.
