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August 13, 2026
 

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AUM SHINRIKYO

The apartment one of a son of Chizuo Matsumoto in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture. Matsumoto was the former leader of the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult. His son recently filed a lawsuit against the government and is seeking damages for an attempted inspection of his apartment.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 5, 2026
Ex-Aum leader¡¯s son seeks damages from government
This is the first time that details of his remarks and behavior related to the agency¡¯s inspection attempt have come to light.
Shizue Takahashi, who lost her husband in the 1995 sarin gas attack by Aum Shinrikyo, offers a prayer in Tokyo on Friday, the 31st anniversary of the attack.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2026
Victims of Tokyo subway sarin gas attack remembered 31 years on
A flower stand was set up at Kasumigaseki Station ¡ª one of the attack sites ¡ª and close to the time of the attack, 16 station staff members offered a silent prayer.
After the family members of Chizuo Matsumoto argued over who should inherit his remains, a family court decision designating the second daughter as the recipient was finalized in 2021.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2026
High court orders ex-Aum leader¡¯s remains handed over to daughter
The government had said that if the remains were handed over, they would be misused by the cult¡¯s successor group and followers, harming public safety.
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Nov 17, 2025
Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Since its founding in 1945, the club has been an important professional hub and played host to a startling array of political and cultural figures from around the world.
Followers of doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo work in front of a computer screen showing a picture of group leader Shoko Asahara at Aum's key Adachi office in Tokyo in 1999.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2025
Japan to keep restricting Aum Shinrikyo successor group¡¯s activities
The Public Security Examination Commission extended the restrictions on Aleph, a successor group of the now-defunct doomsday cult, until March 20, 2026.
The home of Chizuo Matsumoto's second son in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, in July. The place was recognized by the Public Security Intelligence Agency as a facility of Aleph, Aum Shinrikyo's successor organization.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 4, 2025
Matsumoto¡¯s second son officially recognized as Aleph leader
The name of the 31-year-old son was included in an agency request for administrative action against Aleph.
Followers of doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo chant in religious training before a portrait of guru Shoko Asahara in 1999 at Aum's Adachi Ward office in Tokyo, where extensive facilities are located.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2025
Son of executed Aum Shinrikyo founder identified as Aleph leader
The unnamed 31-year-old son of Chizuo Matsumoto has been ¡°involved in organizational decision-making and is leading Aleph¡¯s operations.¡±
The house of the wife of the late Chizuo Matsumoto, the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult's founder, in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, in July
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2025
Tens of millions of yen found at home of Aum Shinrikyo founder¡¯s wife
Chizuo Matsumoto was executed in 2018 over a series of incidents involving the cult, including the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo¡¯s subway system.
Tokyo police declared that Japanese young men and women were simply "not accustomed to one another¡¯s society" due to their cultural upbringing ¡ª and thus freewheeling dance venues and foreign customs needed to be reined in.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jun 4, 2025
Japan Times 1925: Tokyo police impose curfew on ¡®social dances¡¯
In June 1925, concern over ¡°the moral effects of the Western dancing¡± on Japanese youth led to restrictions on social venues.
Some of the photos related to Aum Shinrikyo, taken by Seiichi Takeuchi, are displayed at an educational facility in Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 18, 2025
1,400 photos donated to remember horrors of Aum Shinrikyo cult
Kamikuishiki resident Seiichi Takeuchi, 97, waged a battle against the group from the time the cult set up the base in the village¡¯s Fujigane district in 1989.
The altar inside the Aum Shinrikyo successor group Aleph's facility located in Tokyo's Adachi Ward, with a photo of former Aum Shinrikyo leader Chizuo Matsumoto displayed, in January
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2025
Aum Shinrikyo successors continue to gain new young members
Successor group Aleph¡¯s recruitment tactics are characterized by the concealment of its name and the use of conspiracy theories.
Sachiko Asakawa (left) and her brother Kazuo Asakawa at a news conference in Tokyo in November 2009
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2025
Man recalls effects of Tokyo subway sarin attack on sister
Kazuo Asakawa¡¯s sister, Sachiko Asakawa, died in 2020 at the age of 56 after suffering severe aftereffects from the attack.
An altar at the Aleph facility in Tokyo¡¯s Adachi Ward featuring a photo of Shoko Asahara, the founder of Aum Shinrikyo and the alleged mastermind of the March 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2025
Thirty years later, Aum Shinrikyo¡¯s horrors are ever-present
Subsequent revelations about the cult proved even more alarming than the 1995 assault. It became clear that the authorities had been worried about the group for some time.
Shizue Takahashi offers flowers and pays tribute to the victims of the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult during a memorial service at Kasumigaseki Station on Thursday. Her husband, Kazumasa, who was working as an assistant stationmaster at Kasumigaseki Station, was killed in the attack.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025
Tokyo subway sarin gas attack remembered 30 years on
Many survivors of the attack by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult still suffer from physical aftereffects and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Self-Defense Forces officers engage in the decontamination work of a train at Tsukiji Station on March 20, 1995, the day of a sarin nerve gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025
1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack seen as a turning point for SDF
The sarin gas attack boosted the Ground Self-Defense Force¡¯s chemical weapons operations.
A monument stands in Fujigane Park at the former site of an Aum Shinrikyo facility in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025
Former member of Aum Shinrikyo expresses regret 30 years on
The 59-year-old man who has served time in prison admitted to following the doomsday cult¡¯s leader despite thinking it wasn¡¯t right.
Public Security Intelligence Agency officers enter the headquarters of Hikari no Wa, one of the three successor groups to Aum Shinrikyo, in Tokyo in July 2019.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025
Aum Shinrikyo successor groups still dangerous, justice minister says
The minister also expressed concern about the groups¡¯ activities in recent years to recruit young people with little knowledge of the deadly attack.
Minoru Kariya, who lost his father, Kiyoshi, in 1995 in an abduction case involving the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, speaks during an interview in Tokyo in February.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2025
Aum Shinrikyo victim¡¯s son wants continued remorse
Minoru Kariya¡¯s father, Kiyoshi, then 68, was killed in an abduction case involving the doomsday cult in 1995.
Tetsu Okumura, former emergency room physician at St. Luke's International Hospital, talks about how he treated the victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system 30 years ago, during an interview last week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2025
Former ER doctor recalls fear treating victims in 1995 Tokyo sarin attack
At around 8 a.m. on March 20, 1995, cult members released sarin in train cars on three subway lines in Tokyo during the morning rush hour.
Emergency medical workers treat victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system at a makeshift shelter before they are transported to hospitals on March 20, 1995.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025
Japan to preserve medical records from 1995 sarin attack
The health ministry will also interview medical professionals who treated the victims and compile oral records.
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom makes landfall near Tokyo
Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom made landfall around Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Tuesday night.
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.

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