The last thing that comes to mind when thinking of Japan is terrorist attacks perpetrated by some group of fanatics.
However, not even a safe country like Japan is immune to terrorist attacks.
The Tokyo subway sarin gas attack was a domestic terrorism act perpetrated on March 20, 1995, in Tokyo, Japan, by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin gas on three lines of the current Tokyo Metro during rush hour, killing 12 people, seriously injuring 50, and causing temporary vision problems for about 5,000 others.
The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatachō, the seat of the Japanese government.
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The perpetrators of the attack
Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教) is a Japanese cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. Aum Shinrikyo, which split into Aleph and Hikari no Wa in 2007, has been classified as a terrorist organization by several countries, including Russia, Canada, Kazakhstan, and the United States.
In 1992, Shoko Asahara, founder of Aum Shinrikyo, published a book in which he declared himself “Christ,” the only enlightened master of Japan, and identified as the “Lamb of God.”
He outlined a prophecy of the day of judgment, which included a Third World War, and described a final conflict that would culminate in a nuclear Armageddon.
The attack on the Tokyo Metro
On Monday, March 20, 1995, five members of Aum Shinrikyo launched a chemical attack on the Tokyo subway, one of the busiest passenger transport systems in the world, during the morning rush hour.
The chemical agent used, liquid sarin, was contained in plastic bags that each wrapped in newspaper.
A single drop of sarin the size of a pinhead can kill an adult. Carrying their sarin packages and umbrellas with sharp tips, the perpetrators boarded their designated trains.
At different stations, the sarin packages were discarded and punctured several times with the sharp tip of the umbrella.
Each perpetrator then exited the train and left the station to meet their accomplice with a car. Leaving the punctured packages on the ground allowed the sarin to escape into the train and the stations.
The sarin gas affected passengers, subway workers, and those who came into contact with them.
Sarin is the most volatile of nerve agents. This means it can evaporate quickly and easily from a liquid to a vapor and spread into the environment.
People can be exposed to the vapor even if they do not come into contact with the liquid form of sarin.
Because it evaporates so quickly, sarin poses an immediate but short-lived threat.
On the day of the attack, ambulances transported 688 patients, and nearly 5,000 people arrived at hospitals by other means.
17 were considered critical, 37 serious, and 984 moderately ill with vision problems.
After the sarin gas attack
By mid-afternoon, the slightly affected victims recovered from vision problems and were discharged from the hospital.
Most of the remaining patients were well enough to go home the next day, and within a week only a few critical patients remained in the hospital. The death toll on the day of the attack was eight.
The sarin attack was the most severe attack against Japan. Considered the worst since the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
This provoked major disturbances and widespread fear in a society that had previously been perceived as virtually crime-free.
Some time after the attack, Aum lost its status as a religious organization, and many were seized.
The Japanese parliament rejected a request to ban the group. However, Public Security received funding to monitor the group and reduce the activities of those involved.
Subsequently, 189 members were charged, 5 were sentenced to life imprisonment, 13 were sentenced to death, 80 were sentenced to varying terms, 87 had suspended sentences, 2 were fined, and one was found innocent.
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