The Aum Shinrikyo Cult & the Tokyo Gas Attack

And I'm Malena by the way.

This is morbid Was he gonna tell them who you are girl? I'm not real right now. I'm I'm just overwhelmed with We have responsibilities. We have a very busy morbid schedule this week. Yeah, just like with like the bonus episode is going to be coming out This episode is coming out And there's like more episodes that come out in the future like next week and then like there's just more episodes

More episodes forever and then Alina has other things going on. She's like signing things lots and lots of things Many things guys. I don't know how you I got not that much. I'll have to I'll have to post my I'm sure other people who sign things probably have these But the little things that you can slip on your finger. Yeah, they're like these little silicone things

So we'll make it so you don't get that like that source spot because I get a source spot on my finger if I'm signing for too long

But and they work so I'm surprised you don't get like carpal tunnel I probably do have a little carpal tunnel everyone's in a while. I get a very sharp pain in my wrist. So I think hey, that's carpal tunnel

“We're probably getting it right now, but you know you should be careful because that can get a lot worse. I know”

I know you've seen mean girls. It often requires surgery. It often does my car. I don't know came back. I went yes You do The way I get literally close You just threw a cold hamburger on the floor Should be even contextualized that no, I love

Exactly what I said you just Girl before as we're losing, you don't have to think any further into that Anyway, I can I can close my eyes and watch me girls FYI, we fuck what did I throw now? It was Wendy's secret sauce holy shit

Throw in fast food things crazy next. Oh, or was that no is my phone? I don't know whatever. I don't know. Okay We're gonna be on our little on a lane is a little book tour. Yeah, that sounded so rude Cute little book tour We're gonna be on a lane as massive a tour that's week

“So we are planning to re-release episodes and some of you were gonna be like are you kidding me?”

Yeah, but here's the cool news. One Aiden is working to remaster those episodes because we're gonna Re-release the Jack the Ripper episodes. Yeah, but it's gonna be all in one episode. Yeah, we're making it one well Aiden's making it one big mega episode so you can just listen to the whole thing all the way through So that will come out next Monday and then next Thursday

We're gonna do the same thing with the Molly Bish episode that we covered? Yes, that was just a one-partner, but then we had a follow-up chat with Molly sister Heather So we're gonna combine those two and eight and it's gonna remaster them into one big episode So then you can listen to the case and the interview and that was a great one. Yeah We loved that interview with her sister. Yeah, how do we call some and it's still an unsolved case

“So it's like I mean, I think we covered that way back in 2022. Yeah, so I think it would be good to get some fresh eyes on it”

Hopefully, you know, just you never know what can move something along. You never know

So that will be what's going on next week and then we'll be back to you on How to date's work is it Monday the 14th on Monday? That's the that's a Friday. So we'll be back to you on the 17th with a fresh episode Yeah, and if you're listening to this on Thursday tomorrow You're gonna get the Twilight bonus episode. Yes, and it's our final one and I just

That series of that series. We're still doing bonus episode. It's just we'll start a different one. Yeah, we'll have to figure out what we want to do But I think that's gonna be really fun. It's the worst movie of all the franchises or like in the whole franchise It's really bad. I just watched it and I was like, oh, so like nothing happens in this movie. Yeah, it's crazy We'll get I'm gonna save every yeah Today do you want to get into it or do you have anything? I don't think I have anything

Oh, we did announce that the audio buff for the butcher legacy is gonna be out the same day Puddy and there's a new pre-order and a voice actor. There's a new voice actor carry height And he plays detective John LeRoux one the only and let me tell you he is John LeRoux Elena

But immediately we were all drawn to care. Yeah, but just immediately hit me. I was like that. John. Yeah, and everybody agreed

“So yeah, just if you're an audiobook listener and even it honestly”

I'm not always listening to audiobooks. I do hear in there, but this one. It's really good voice actors are really good

So fiend Joe who play ren and Jeremy and they've played ren and Jeremy since book one We've come to the dawn on time dawn of time. They're phenomenal. I love working with them. We tagged to them in the post I did about the audiobook all three of the actors To go check out their stuff because they do a ton of other stuff too, and they're so good Yeah, they're really really good. They deserve all the recognition and that comes out the audiobook comes out on the 11th just like the book Yeah, cool. Yep. You can pre-order it now if you want you better you don't have them. It's time for the order and remember pre-ordering does get the author

It counts toward the bestseller list. It's true. So if you'll be probably not that you'll ever be that Okay, so now we can start stop your stop your stop watch So we're gonna be talking about all-machine Rikyo and the Tokyo gas attacks. This is an interesting one I need you guys to know that there are a lot of Japanese pronunciations in this and I looked up every single one of them It actually took me many hours

“And I was like, please please a test that it's not a hyperbolic statement at all. It was many hours”

It was a long time and I really hope I got them all right, but please know that if I don't I really am putting effort in She really did So I can confirm thank you so much So let's let's get into it. Let's get into it on the morning of March 20th 1995 before I was even a star in the sky. Wow

Unbeknownst to those millions of riders though five of those trains were carrying large quantities of a nerve agent called Seren You might know it. I heard of it a colorless odorless liquid that when released into the air can cause extreme respiratory problems and Eventually death. That's terrifying. Yeah, just Chillin on the trains. Yeah, as the trains traveled to their respective destinations through the underground system

The bags of Seren became punctured and released the gas into those packed train cars and within seconds

The first victim started dropping to the floor some choking some vomiting. It was wild. That's horrific

The Tokyo Gas attacks did ultimately kill 13 people and injured nearly 6,000 others holy shit and to this day. They remain the worst case of domestic terrorism in Japan's history Wow. Yeah, so a little before 8 a.m. on that morning, March 20th 1995 Kiyoka Azumi who was a public relations agent with one of the nation's airlines was among the countless people riding one of the trains that morning

Kiyoka got off at the Tozai station and transferred to the Chiyodaline Just as she did every single morning on her way to work as the train approached the Shinokan Nozimu station Kiyoka took a breath and within seconds she realized that something was absolutely wrong She later said I inhaled and then suddenly my breath froze

“She didn't remember feeling any pain and in the moment she actually thought her inability to breathe was”

Related to a cold that she'd had for the last few days just like getting a little work because of course You're not gonna be like, I've been on being poisoned. No, of course not that's not your first reaction to anything But within seconds that feeling got much worse She said it felt like if I inhaled any more all my guts would come spilling right out of my mouth

Everything became a vacuum. I mean, I had never felt so bad. Oh, that makes me want to breathe in

I know I just had to stress me out. So that's where swirling around in her head. She thought about her grandfather who was 94 in head been ill She thought about her own life her own recent cold questioning if this could be that and just wondered what the hell what's happening And then just as suddenly as it had come on the strange paralysis seemed to pass and she could suddenly Breathe again. Hmm, now that really turned out to be short lived as the train passed the next station She started coughing aggressively and uncontrollably and at that moment she realized she wasn't the only one

Experiencing this it seems like everyone in the train car that she was riding had a terrible cough that they had no control over Now she was struggling to breathe on the chiota line 24 year old station a station agent Maseru Uasa was doing his rounds at the Kasumi Goseki station one of Tokyo's larger train stations and it's right where those lines intersect Maseru had just finished a particularly long shift and was headed out of the station actually when he saw a co-worker

Wheeling a mop and bucket down the hall past him the co-worker told him that they had received a call about needing to clean up one of the train cars But Maseru was a nice guy. He said I'm off the clock, but you know it. Let me help you Yeah, I'm gonna help you. Yeah, so they got down to the platform and they found three other station agents

Struggling with what seemed to be a large number of wet newspapers. Hmm, so it's like a big old mess

“He said they're stuffing it all by hand into plastic bags, but there's liquid coming from them and spilling out onto the platform”

The agent with the mop did most of the cleaning but Maseru got down on the ground and it attempt to help clean up the remainder of the liquid that the other guy had missed And as he attempted to clean up the mess by hand, he looked up and saw one of the station agents walked slowly over to the trash can with some of those newspapers Then without any warning that man holding them paused briefly and fell to the ground. Oh Maseru recalled his face looked awful. He couldn't talk. We laid him on a side loosened his tie. He looked in really bad shape

So Maseru ran to the phone to call for an ambulance and then rushed up to the street to wait So he could lead the emergency technicians down to the platform when they got there and as he rushed up the stairs One of his co-worker stopped him To tell them there had been to tell him there had been some sort of emergency at one of the other stations on the hebialine So it's like all these emergencies are starting to happen. Yeah, everybody is getting alerted

Maseru waited on the street for what seemed like forever, but the ambulance still didn't get there

“By then they were seriously worried about their co-worker and they thought they should at least move him up to the street”

But when Maseru started back down the stairs Several people warned him that he shouldn't go down there because now Multiple people had become even more sick. It wasn't just a work So scared this would be so dystopian and like end of the world feeling. I feel like it was the apocalypse Yeah, it feels very well up deck

They told him it was something inside of the plastic bags wrapped in the newspapers that seemed to be the culprit making everyone sick Now elsewhere across Tokyo other emergency calls were starting to come in about people becoming extremely on the trains Which is likely why the emergency vehicles were taking so long to respond because they're overwhelmed

On the Maranucci line, Mitsuou a Rima was on his way to work for the first time in a week

He had been out with a terrible flu for the past week. It he comes out to this. Yeah, as soon as he sat down He smelled what he described as an acid smell Mitsuou looked around the train and noticed people covering their noses and mouths with hanker chips So he wasn't the only one smelling this. Yeah, but only in retrospect Did he realize what was happening? He said later. I was taking a hay fever remedy at the time

So I thought it might be a reaction to the drug. It was different from my usual though So maybe this was a side effect Now Mitsuou reached his office a little after 8 a.m And by then he felt horrible. He said I felt so lethargic. I just sat in a in a days at my desk staring at the window By lunch things had gotten even worse. He had no appetite

He was sweating heavily and he had a tightening sensation in his hand. Oh my god And there was a television on in his office kitchen and several employees were gathered around it Because by that time news of the poisoning started to break on some of the news And some of his co-workers actually joked that maybe he had Sarah and poison. I mean It wouldn't be that crazy to think but imagine

Hearing that as a joke, but seeing that on the news and also feeling the weird shit he was feeling right

“You'd be like am I poison right now like that would be such an early thing to have to come to grips with and you're also probably sitting there like am I poison?”

Or am I a feeling weird because I've had the flu and now I just kind of like exposed to this information? Yeah, so it like I think this is happening, but maybe it's not like and we're all We all know that across cultures and across the globe humans do that one thing where they say I don't know am I being annoying? Am I am I being dramatic should I just not go to the hospital when I feel this and I don't really want to bother anyone

You know, I do the same thing, but we got to stop we got to overreact Then it's so funny because like I get mad at you when you do it, but then I do the same thing and you're like go to the doctor Like that's that it's like you got overreact. Yeah, we got to start overreacting everybody

Well, so at first he just kind of laughed it off. He was like yeah, totally. I'm starting for sure

But by 2 p.m. he finally excused himself from work. I was like yeah, I should probably go to the doctor Something's up when the doctor heard that he'd been on the subway before the sudden onset of symptoms He looked at Mitsuo's pupils and immediately sent him to be hospitalized. Oh god At the hospital he was confirmed to be suffering from exposure to seren gas and admitted later for treatment He said oddly enough and like he recalled this later oddly enough. I didn't feel any sense of crisis

I'd been right at the epicenter, but instead of shuddering at the death toll I felt like I was watching a program on TV as if it were somebody else's program. Whoa, it seems like it's like an odd of body Now he wasn't alone in his feelings of just absolute surreal confusion Once people started hearing about the gas attacks in the subway system All of them across Tokyo and many across Japan were as confused and also terrified

I can't believe this. It's scary. I'm scared of Tokyo now. Yeah, which is wild because for decades Tokyo and even still yeah has been considered one of the safest cities around the world. It still is yeah But it's partially because of that feeling of safety that the attacks on the subway were so distabled. Oh, yeah One subway writer said we all talk about how America is a risky society But in the New York subway is at least you can see who's firing the guns in this case. Nobody could see who did it

“That's what's really terrifying. That's really scary. Yeah”

Now the lack of motive and at first anonymous identity of the attacker or attackers

Founded the traumatic effect on the attack everywhere a reporter from the New York Times said a wrote everyone was worried about Finding small packages like the one that admitted the gas especially after they heard what happened to Kazumasa Takahashi Who was the deputy station master of Kasumi Goseki the one who went down. Okay. Takahashi was the man that Masaru Yuasa had helped clean the mess on the platform. Oh

And he then collapsed after gathering the packages and moving them into the trash like I said He hadn't been on the trains when the gas was released so he had I guess you could say limited exposure But he died that afternoon. Oh, no from his from the effects. Yeah

Other writers had a similar experience of witnessing fellow passengers becoming sick and an instant and then just collapsing

It was enough to put everybody on high alert and nobody knew whether they were in the presence of the gas or if they might get sick at any Minute oh shit because you can get sick right away or you could it can take a minute see that that's no good Those kind of things where it's like yeah, could it you read away or like maybe it's time release

“It's like no and I think it depends on the”

Like level of exposure. Yeah, you know, that makes sense So throughout that day and into the next day nearly all of Japan was gathered around their televisions And we use as news of the attacks slowly unfolded what they learned was on that morning March 20th Those bags filled with liquid seren had been placed on five subway cars like I said

Wrapped in newspapers to conceal the contents around 8 a.m. which was peak travel time for commuters

The bags were punctured by the individuals responsible for the attack and they immediately gone off the train Once punctured the invisible odorless gas just leaked from the bags and was released into all of those train cars We're everyone and they had no idea They're just on the way to work a sudden they're like and it's like no here anything else the place or something like odorless colorless

Like yeah, have no idea it's even happening. You all just start falling like that is nightmare Actually, I shouldn't say colorless. I don't know if Darren has a color. I know it's odorless No, it is colorless colorless. I thought it was yeah, I had a feeling but If it's degraded, I can appear brown. So there you go. Just tell the whole truth, you know

“Yeah nothing but the truth. Yeah, that's how I feel”

So Darren attacks the nervous system and interferes with the neuromuscular junctions Which causes anybody who's been exposed to lose control of those muscles and control of their respiratory system So you die by exphyxiation, yeah, because your respiratory system just like yeah, it just stops yeah other non-fatal symptoms Include runny nose tightly constricted pupils, which is why when that one passenger or um man was Admitted to the hospital because because the doctor looked at his pupils who's like fuck

Fuck also includes tightness and the trust vomiting convulsions all of the above It is a volatile chemical too, which means it's it can transform from liquid to vapor with relative ease So to inhale it is it just a given pretty much yeah in addition to that it can also soak into fabrics and other materials Which will then continue to release fumes for up to 30 minutes after exposure So you could have been hit by the immediate exposure or if that's if that got on like any seats or anything like that or whatever the bottom of the

The train cars were made of Could have soaked that in and then it's just continues to release like the newspapers even it could have soaked in there It's this was crazy damn so for residents of Tokyo like I said the lack of boat of for the attack was almost as unsettling as the attack itself Yeah by the time everything was under control 13 people were dead and 6,000 suffered a range of symptoms 6,000 and those range of symptoms so it varied from

obviously like serious but like the lower severity to quite serious yeah now in fact because attacks with chemical weapons had become so uncommon since world war one There wasn't that much research into the long-term effects of exposure to seren gas And unfortunately it would turn out that many of those affected by the gas in the subway would continue to suffer from exposure in the decades that followed

for 30 years just going on the subway just going to work going to school Don't see your friends whatever be it

“Now in the immediate aftermath of the attack hospitals across Tokyo were obviously flooded with subway riders”

Yeah everybody was terrified that they had been exposed

First staff and administrators the situation was a logistical nightmare

Given the potential severity they had to make quick decisions about who wasn't who wasn't at risk and if they were wrong That could have resulted in the loss of more lives yeah absolutely now beyond the challenge of triage There was also the matter of simple logistics if a person was assumed to have been exposed and that included Thousands of people each individual had to remove all of their clothing For fear of further off gasing and then they had to remain in the hospital for observation

Just like think of how many beds that was going to say that's like inconceivable it is Those who were obviously affected and suffering already severe symptoms were isolated away from other passengers and visitors

“And it created a serious problem for space with not only the patients affected by this”

But the patients who were already either in the hospital are just coming. Yeah, hospital for other reasons

Damn now even further complicating matters was the fact that while some doctors in the city had some limited Experience with treating exposure to toxic chemicals. They were few and far between and almost none of them had experience Treating victims of seren gas poisoning. Yeah, this is not something to do that time. Yeah So after a thorough so that was a nightmare and then after a thorough search of the entire subway system Investigators located a total of 11 filled seren

11 seren filled plastic bags on those five different subway cars Eight of those 11 were successfully punctured which released approximately 160 ounces of the gas Wow For a lot of people the situation was made all the more frightening by the fact that the intended effect could have even been that much larger If it wasn't for the failure to puncture those other bags absolutely these details were more a fine Poor yeah, yeah, but just a couple days after the attack when the suspects were identified the public would learn just how much worse

Things could have been On the morning of March 22nd just two days after the attacks more than 2,500 Tokyo police officers spread across the city Aided by members of Japan's self-defense Force which is just like their military In a massive raid on the offices of on-machine Rikyo a small religious sect that had been operating in the city since the about 1990

The official story related to the press was that the offices were being raided in connection to a kidnapping case But a lot of the officers were seen wearing gas masks gas masks protective body suits and some even carried small birds and cages Which is a traditional means of testing an area for the presence of toxic gas. Yep, like the canaries in the mind. Exactly. Yeah

“Now, and they're like oh, yeah, yeah, it's kidnapping. Yeah, but it's like two days after these gas attacks and everybody's like hmm. Why go birds?”

Why do I go birds and a small religious sect like what the fuck? Why you got birds, man? Now, umshin Rikyo was started in 1987 by their leader Shoko Asahara and it began as a religious move movement that kind of blended Hindu and Buddhist beliefs to a degree But within a few years their belief system Would become or would come to include several apocalyptic Christian prophecies as well. Oh

Just a little bit of that. Okay. Yeah, it's not just a religious sect. Yeah, not long after founding the movement Asahara declared himself to be not only a reincarnation of Jesus Christ himself

But also the first enlightened one since the Buddha

Well, shith guys kind of the big issue. He's the biggest deal. Yeah, the cutest yeah by the end of the 80s The group had gained official status as a religious organization in Japan and had managed to attract Several thousand devotees around the world not just Japan and it was doing part to Asahara's publishing and public speaking activities. He had a way of bringing the people in. Yeah, now Japanese culture overall is a lot more rooted in history and tradition than it is religion

So most people across Japan didn't see Om Shin Rikyo as a formal religion so much as like a Spiritual movement kind of thing and it incorporated aspects of popular Japanese cultural products like Manga and anime. Oh, yeah, so it was like a little more palatable to the map. Yeah, for sure, especially to a younger generation or marketable to would it I said I wouldn't know you were right palatable, but I mean and marketable to exactly so to a younger generation joining on became a way

So that led to a lot of young people from wealthy and elite families to join

“All right, that makes sense which is scary. Yeah, because you can see how it how it goes that way. Yeah, it started off as like”

Oh, cool. Like yeah, and that's like this fun new thing Now at first the objectives and beliefs of Om Shin Rikyo were pretty chill. It was all about like Positive thinking, self-improvement, self-realization, all those basically every cold start. Yeah, and it was all presented in a framework of Supposedly ancient traditions and beliefs which made it like we said marketable palatable But within a few years the beliefs and desires of Shoko Asahara himself started taking things further and further away from positivity and self-work

By the 1990 or by 1990 the new religious movement was starting to look more like a cult with every passing day. Members were being encouraged to relinquish all their assets, all their holdings and all their savings to Om in general along with their autonomy and individuality, and Asahara told them this was the price for true

“self-determination and self-actualization. It always is just give me everything you have”

Even your name and your very essence. Yeah, and you'll realize who you are. That's it. I love that in Every one of these cults. That seems to be the one rule. Yeah, give me all your shit. Yeah, give me everything in your life

You've got some big rewards. All you're loved one. It's like it's so crazy how it just it's always that

That's so crazy. How like nobody ends up rewarded. Yeah, it's just always about giving all your earthly possessions Including and your name. Yeah, to just one guy just to do just a guy. Yeah, but he He earns your trust so you think he's Jesus Christ. Always do which is like they always do. It's so sad Now Om's practice is in rituals for a long time. We're heavily guarded secrets that were rarely described outside of the group. But since the attacks a lot of former members have spoken out and told

their stories of what happened behind the scenes and it's fucked up. According to several former all members, they were they paid large sums for quote rituals involving Asahara's hair and bath water despite the group urging followers to reject materialism. They took it to a place of salt burn. They sure did. They sure did. One former member told a BBC journalist that he paid more than $8100 in 1988 for a blood initiation where he drank what was said to be the leader's blood. I also just

need you to look at Eden's face. Eden spotted during this recording. Like he's like what the fall did I sign up for? Yeah. Yeah, just a blood initiation and a rudder of it. The rituals which

were always somewhat strange came to include the use of psychedelic drugs and also violent abuse

like the incorporation of shock therapy. Oh yeah, just just normal thing. Just a little just a little little trip. That's fine. Yeah. So as the beliefs and the objectives and the entire vibe of the group was slowly shifting and orienting around Asahara himself, he was becoming increasingly paranoid

“because you have to know that at least one part of him realized this was wrong. Yeah. So he's like”

how are they going to go away with this? Yeah. He was delusional. He was grandiose and because of that, so were the stories that he was telling his followers. By the 90s, those stories had taken on a very dark tone as they always do and where it is it always go to the end of the world. Always. With an a pretty short amount of time, he became convinced that the world was going to collapse into World War III and he said Japan would go to war against the United States and that would bring

out the apocalypse. Yeah. Yeah. Of course, that's always the ending. Yeah. So because his thoughts

and his overall vibe were getting so dark and violent in time, the orders that he gave his followers were just as dark and just as violent. Now the secret to his success and pretty much every call leaders was a strategy of division and domination. While some members were treated extremely well and given a certain amount of power within the group, others were singled out for abuse and just otherwise manipulated. Awesome. Yeah. So he had like his closest fellow soldiers kind of thing

and they would deal out his doing so. Yep. Now in the spring of 1990, Asahara finally mobilized those closest most devoted followers. When that April, he instructed she gave Susji Moto and several others to produce a large quantity of botulinum toxin. What? Yeah, just that. Okay. A powerful neurotoxin. Once they'd done so, the followers loaded the poison into industrial sprayers mounted onto three trucks and sprayed areas around two U.S. naval bases,

Oh, just that. Just that old thing. Yeah. You know, you know, the one. Oh, yeah, I've heard of it.

“You know, yeah, in passing. According to Asahara, this was to bring about the apocalyptic war”

between the U.S. and Japan. But it's more likely that the real motivation for the attack was retaliation for defeat of 25 all members who ran for political positions and failed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Seems like it. Yeah. Either way, the effects of the attacks would have been devastating. But fortunately, since none of the followers had any experiences with chemicals or chemical compounding, they were unable to produce the neurotoxin and what they sprayed had no effect.

Also, nobody really even would have known that this happened. I was going to say, yeah.

So they're first attempt to deploy a chemical weapon had been unsuccessful. But they remained

committed to using highly toxic chemicals to bring about the end of the world. In the fall of 1992, Asahara and 40 of his closest followers travel to Zair on what they described as a mission to provide support and medical assistance to those affected by the Ebola outbreak. Oh, they just decided to be like super kind. So nice. But in all reality, it's believed that the true purpose for the trip was to obtain samples of Ebola, which they would then bring

back to Tokyo and unleash onto the public. Ebola is the scariest thing. Yeah. It absolutely is.

“Is thinking about anyone harnessing Ebola to utilize as a weapon on other people?”

Is this scary issue? It's beyond the pale. Like, I can't, you got it. Ah, period. Ah, period. Because you just hemorrhage. Yeah. I hate it. I hate it. In the end, luckily I'm sure you probably didn't hear much about this because they were unable to obtain samples and they did return empty handed. But that was the goal. Oh, allegedly. Having now failed twice at obtaining dangerous chemicals and deadly viruses,

Asahara's inner circle was undeterred, though, in the desire to carry out their leader's plans. So in June 1992, several members of Aum attempted to spray what they thought was botulinum toxin onto the gas outside the wedding of Prince Naruhuto. Oh, that's good, right? Yeah. Just, that's just the Prince. Just, a very low key. Just, just, just start off slow. Just do an average wedding. Yeah, just that. Yeah. Once again, though, they failed to properly

extract the toxin during the processing phase and what they sprayed was entirely an active. I mean, good. So I like, I'm not quite sure if you knew that happened until, until actually later. Can you imagine looking back on your wedding or being like, oh, cool. That was just creeping on the perimeter. Yeah. What? Imagine. Damn. Now, by late 1993, Aum had started to get a reputation with Japanese law enforcement, if you can even imagine. Yeah. And also in certain

cannibals. Because of Ausahara's increasingly aggressive political rhetoric and his bizarre conspiracy theories and accusations. There were also rumors of Aum members having been involved in the commission of various crimes across Japan, including kidnapping and murder. Oh, damn. A lot of members who joined the group seeking spiritual enlightenment had become deeply uncomfortable with Ausahara's new fixation and just the paranoid delusions and they decided to leave.

Now, some of those former members went on to found the Canary Association, which is a group that provides legal services and support to former members and victims of Aum. Whoa. Now, this became a real problem. Yeah. But because the rumors of Aum's nefarious activities hadn't escalated to provable fact, there was really nothing law enforcement agencies could do at the time to stop them. They could only keep them on their radar and hope that they

made a mistake somewhere along the way. And so scary. It really is. Because you, I mean, obviously, you need tangible proof. You can't just be like, well, that's the thing. They're spraying chemicals

“on it. There's not doing anything. And you don't want them to do something, but the only way you”

can do something is if they do something, it's like, it's a pickle. Yeah. Now, in the meantime, Shoko Asahara continued his attempts to bring about the end of the world, but also developed a new fixation with the Canary Association, who he viewed probably rightfully as a threat to his

hold over the numbers of all. In May 1994, he decided it was finally time to deal with them

and put an end to them once and for all. On May 9th, he directed one of his closest followers, Yoshinobu, Aliyama, and several other young followers to kill a man named Terro Takimoto, who was one of the founders of the Canary Association. Okay. That morning, the group traveled to the co-food district courthouse, where Takimoto was conducting business. After finding

good. And not only that, but they coated the interior of the windshield with it, then closed the car

“and left the scene. Oh, shit. So when Takimoto got into his car and started the engine,”

the ventilation kicked on, obviously, and released a huge cloud of sarin gate gas to his face. Holy shit. After many, many failed attempts at releasing a chemical weapon onto the public,

they finally succeeded when it came to sarin. Just a very short time after being exposed to

the gas, Taro Takimoto died from a symptoms. Oh, man. Now in time, Aliyama and the others directly involved in Takimoto's death, they were charged and convicted for the murder. Yeah. They got 12 years in prison. 12 years. Yeah. They also refused to cooperate with the authorities or implicate Asahara or Alman anyway in the murder. So investigators couldn't make any additional arrests. Huh. Yeah. I see. They had a great, wow, makes total sense. Yeah. Just kill them,

“damn. You're just in prison. Well, years wild. Whew. So now that they found a chemical weapon,”

though, that ostensibly worked for their purposes, Asahara and his followers kept targeting and attacking their rivals with remarkable frequency. In June 1994, seven members really sarin in Matsumoto, a neighborhood outside of Tokyo, using a heat pot to vaporize the liquid. My god. The suspected motive was to kill three judges who were about to hear a fraud case that had been brought against all. Jesus. But the damage was a lot more severe. Seven people were killed and

140 were injured. My god. The damage these fuckers do. Yeah. And they're just flying under the radar in a way. Like obviously they're on the police's radar, but not for this kind of thing. Right.

Now in September, Shoko Uigawa, a journalist who had written several articles, critical of

“Am, and Asahara was attacked when members of the cult sprayed falls gene gas through her mail slot.”

mail slots now. Yeah. My goodness. She was asleep at the time in her own fucking home and unable to detect the gas, obviously. By the time she woke up, she developed a severe cough, she could not speak, could not breathe, and her throat was incredibly irritated. By then it was too late to stop any of the effects and she died later that day. Holy shit. Just a journalist who was critical of them and just in her house. Yeah. That fall, the attacks continued on everybody from political rivals

spiritual groups to Am's critics, former members. Nobody was safe. That's terrifying. A group of 20 dissident members were killed after members of Am sprayed them with VX, which is one of

the most powerful nerve agents known to man. What the fuck? Yeah. A few weeks later, more

members of the Canary Association were targeted, but this time the VX failed to produce the desired effect and there were actually no fatalities. Wow. But they intended to. Yeah. Between late 1994 and February of 1995, nearly a dozen attacks similar to those mentioned above were attributed to members of Am Shin Rikyo. While those attacks perpetrated by members of Am on but half of Shoko Asahara were obviously fucking terrifying and terrible. At least some of them

seemed to have been practice runs for this larger attack that they would eventually perpetrate in Tokyo on the map. It's awful, but it was all like a lead up exactly. And it's awful to call it practice, but it really was. It really, it was them perfecting the technique. Yeah. In early March of 1995, a member of Am made a large and illegal purchase of gas masks and military equipment online from a U.S.-based military surplus company. And it's believed that this is the equipment

that was used in the attack on the subway. Wow. So on that morning of March 20th, which we've now referenced many times, 1995, a cool high-oshi board of the Chio to line carrying two bags of liquids here and wrapped in newspapers. Once he was aboard the train, he carefully slid the bags under a seat and waited to hear the announcement for his station. Once he heard that they were approaching a stop, he waited until the very last minute. And then using the sharpened tip of his umbrella,

he punctured the two bags beneath his seat and just casually exited the train. Jesus. From the platform, he climbed up the stairs to the street where another all-member Tomomitsu Nimi was waiting in a getaway car. Elsewhere in Tokyo, nearly identical scenarios were playing out. Wow. On the

seren before exiting the trains, making their way to the street where their drivers Kiyotaka, Tonozaki, and Shigeo Suji-Moto were waiting. And on the Maranucci line, Kanichi Hirose and Tauru Tayoda did the same before making their way to the street and escaping with help from their drivers, Koichi Katmira and Katsuya Takahashi. Unlike the others, though,

Hirose Hirose was unsuccessful in puncturing his bags and ultimately resorted to kicking one of the

bags onto the platform to try to get it to burst. As a result, he was exposed to the gas and required hospitalizations to treat his symptoms. He was exposed to the gas himself. Yeah, he was an idiot.

“And honestly, that would be deserved. Now, given what they knew about Aminasa Hara, investigators”

of the train attack immediately suspected that the cult were the perpetrators. In the past, they might have failed repeatedly to connect the other gas attacks and just many, many acts of violence from the cult members directly back to Asahara. But this time, things were going to change. When police raided the Am Office around Tokyo, they discovered, among other things,

$7.9 million in cash, 22 pounds of gold, several weapons, and 8 on of gas masks and military gear.

As well as a "huge cache" of toxic chemicals similar to those used in the lethal assault on Tokyo subway. The number of toxic agents found during the raid over 200 barrels suggested that they had even larger plans for the following weeks and months. Clearly, during this raid or during the multiple raids, they also found 50 members of Am would have been confined in one of their chapels

“in a temple at the foot of Mount Fuji. What? All of these people were dehydrated and close to”

starvation and presumably, it was some kind of punishment for some transgression against Asahara. Holy shit, just locked in a temple at the foot of Mount Fuji. That's the scariest shit I've ever heard. Picture hang that wolf. Yeah, that's not. I'm picturing that and that's scaring the shit out of. Yeah, just like, think about Mount Fuji. It's like one of the most beautiful scenes in the world. At the foot of Mount Fuji, like what a, I don't even know how to describe that. That's just like putting

someone in the deepest, darkest, farthest out place you can think of. Like that's the isolation technique there is next level. That's also the, um, okay, Gahara. Yeah. Horace. Yep. That's like the forest of the ocean of trees they call it. Yeah. It's so dense that no sound can escape it. Yeah. How fucked is that? I, you have no words.

“Like that's what's honestly one of the scariest things I've ever heard. It's a horror movie. That's”

so diabolical. Yeah. Well, why would I say 50 members? Yeah, around 50 members. Just locked in a temple. No one knew what a found them. No, had this not happened. No way. Oh, man. Like I said, they were all dehydrated. All close to starvation for our members were arrested in connection with the confinement and six of those in confinement in that confinement were removed to it and moved to a local hospital for treatment. Wow. But imagine just living the rest of your life as one of those 50

people. Yeah, who was just locked in a temple at the base of Mount Fuji. All because you joined this what you thought was like a religious movement. Yeah, like, like a spiritual moment fucked up. Yeah. Who knows what the transgressions were? It was probably, I can't even imagine. Yeah, I can't even like not saying. Yeah, remember something. Now when the news about the raids on the on the on the headquarters broke, the cult rushed to release a statement, of course. And it's just that they had

never made any chemical weapons. And they had nothing to do with the attack on the subway. They said,

PR, PR. It's like, weird of you to have so many strange chemicals then. Yeah, they said, don't why are you asking them about it? Well, this spokesperson for all Yoshi Nobu Aoyama, one as far as to suggest that it very well could have been the police who planned the attack and then just wanted to frame the group for it. The way they just said, maybe it's the other guy. Wasn't me. Wasn't me, but maybe it's the people of protection serve. It's also like, yeah, I'm sure

you're police on a random day and March just wanted to create work for themselves. Exactly. Like, like, like, what sense does that make? But okay. Just wanted to expose themselves to their asses. Yeah, for sure. Of course. But like, you guys are just also keeping a shit ton of chemicals. No reason. Yeah, across many, not many buildings that you will not planning to use it. No, just like carboring. No, it's like, tablets, like fun to do experiments. Okay. Yeah. Science, look it up.

to promote themselves as the victim of bad press. But in the weeks that followed the subway attack,

“the full extent of their operation was uncovered and exposed daily in the press. By the end of”

that week, investigators had discovered additional caches of toxic chemicals and located a full scale chemical laboratory in one of their shrines also located near Mount Fuji. Oh, wow. A chemical fucking laboratory. They had like, if you're watching true blood with us, they had like a hot shot. They had a hot shot. Um, members attempted to describe the lab as they're quote unquote. I'm not getting you science and technology agency. Like, this is just where we do science and technology.

No, you haven't. Get that to my laboratory. Did you? You're not as good as us. You said, okay. You're not as science as us. I can't get science. Just get, get into it. Yeah. It's science. Cool. Deal with it. Detectives explain though that it was clearly where the group had been manufacturing sarin in preparation for murder. Yeah. They're like, guys, they're like, we caught you red handed. Yeah. There's a bit, there's a beaker here that says sarin to cross

sarin to kill everyone. Yeah. Like, it's come on. Like, get out of here. Now, in the weeks and immediately following the attacks on the subway, more than 150 members of Alma were arrested for various offenses. Someone on the run, though, to avoid arrest, but a lot of those members would eventually be arrested and prosecuted. Despite the arrest, though, of several members of the cult, many of them public figures, by the way, the group continued operating. Like, they just

weren't under investigation. Yeah. They said don't worry. We're like, we're still going to science technology near Mount Fuji. Yeah. It's what we do for at least six weeks after the raids. There were ongoing attacks, including one on the Yokohama subway in mid-May that resulted in

the injury of roughly 20 passengers. Finally, though, on May 16, thousands of police officers and

soldiers spread out across Tokyo again, one of the city's largest raids all in search of the founder Shoko Asahara. It took some time, but eventually, this doesn't even feel real. Eventually, they found him hold up in a rural compound, which they were only able to access after forcing open a number of complex locks on the doors that led to this place and making their way through

“a maze of dark hallways. How is this real? That's real life, brothers. How is this real?”

It had to cut through several locks and then do a fucking corn maze. I can't, I can't get through corn maze on a good day. No. Yes, that's all I thought about. No, you're so right, 8 and just held up a note that's a true detective. That's exactly what I picture. Yes, it's such a good call. And again, like something you would picture in a crazy showroom. Yeah, but it was for real. Wow. But they found him. Yeah. So he was arrested, obviously, and removed it. Got him.

He was removed to Tokyo's metropolitan police headquarters, where he was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in connection with the subway attack. Oh, tell me. Mostly, do you guys charge for domestic terrorism? Yeah. Now, at the time of his arrest, Tokyo investigators and politicians found themselves having to lock a very fine line, though, between enforcing the law and adhering to the protections

afforded to, um, as a religious organization. Come on. At the same time, they worried that even if they were able to appease the group's more moderate members and supporters, there would be other more radical members who might retaliate with even more violence.

“Yeah. Because you have to realize this group, like I said, it wasn't just in Japan.”

Well, like, not even just in Tokyo, it was across Japan and across the world. That's interesting. And they don't, they're, they're unpredictable. So now, in fact, on the day of Asahara's arrest, a package bomb exploded at Tokyo City Hall, and many suspected it had been planted there by a member of, um, in retaliation. The members who were found to be responsible for their roles in the gas attacks were luckily prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, though,

ultimately, and give it the harshest penalties. Of those who drove the getaway vehicles after

the gas was released in the subway cars. All but Tomomitsu and Nimi were given life sentences. As Am's minister of internal affairs, though, Nimi was determined to play a much larger role in the attack, and he was sentenced to death. Wow. Similarly, those who were deemed responsible for releasing the gas were also sentenced to death with the exception of Ikuo Hayashi, who cooperated and was sentenced to life in prison. Wow. After his arrest,

Shoko Asahara was identified as the person who obviously gave the order to release the gas on the subway, and he was found to have played a role in the earlier attacks on various targets throughout the city. At his trial, he was ultimately charged with 27 counts of murder among various on your charges. It's a lot of counts. That's a lot, that's a lot of murder. That's a lot of murder,

guilty and sentenced to death. After having exhausted all of his appeals, he was executed by hanging

“along with six other cult members on July 6, 2018 at the Tokyo House of detention.”

And the remaining four members who were sentenced to death were executed three weeks later, July 26, 2018. Now, in the years following the attack on the Tokyo subway, Amshin Rikyo continued to operate in locations around the world, obviously with a much less devoted following than they once had. But for a time, the group even

was presided by over Asahara's own sons. Wow. Yeah. Before they ultimately re-grouped as a new

organization called Atleph, and they claimed they abandoned the stricter religious text and beliefs. There's kind of doing a new thing. Okay. Over the last 30 years, though, there have been several incidents of violence and acts of terrorism that are believed to be associated with the group in the members. But Amshin's official position is that there are peaceful spiritual organization now and have no connection to terrorists and cannot be held responsible for what others do

without their permission or sanction. Okay. So, holy shit. That is that. That is...

“Well, I'm like, how did I not learn about that in school? That's a thing. You didn't learn about that in school?”

I do. I don't remember learning about that ever. I mean, learning about like world history. Yeah. Like, why don't you learn about that? Not wild. And also, like, damn. Do you remember hearing about that ever? I mean, it was the 90s. What was it? 95? I would have been 10. So, yes, I guess maybe you would. I don't remember hearing about it. Maybe you would have been kept away from it. I probably was kept away from it. You were like, turn off the news line isn't there? But yeah. Like, that's

it's weird to think that that was happening when I was just 10. Yeah. Just being a 10-year-old. It is. It is really weird to think that actually. And that's all happening. Yeah. I don't like that. Just like the amount of weird, crazy, like feels like a spine moving. It does. That's the thing.

What do you mean? And the way they kept like fucking up first and they kept trying and practicing until

they got it, that's scary. Yeah. How dedicated they were. That's a thing this. They're I mean, so dedicated. Yeah. And it's so sad that a lot of people about were injured and lost their lives. I mean, the fact that somebody died as recently as, what did I say, 2020? Yeah. That's, that's even after so sad. After years and years of battling, like, serious complications from the poisoning, it's awful. Yeah. Sarah and his fucking scary. Yeah, it is.

You got a fun habit. Let me find one. That was a fun fact. We need one. It's too shook. It's a shook thing story. It really is. The Lobsters pee out of their faces. Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. They have little, like, nozzles. Ew. Like right under their eyes. And they just piss out of them. How dare you say that to me? And they just, they just piss out of them. They do.

“That's like a knock-up where she's like, and then you have to cut off your head and you take.”

And then they, because you were like, they just piss out of them. They just piss out of them. That's really good. Yeah. We also, I just, I was like, no, for real. Mills also squirt pee at rival Mills to show dominance. Yeah. They piss out each other for dominance. Yeah. They talk to each other by peeing on each other's faces as well. Females also spray urine into males faces to calm them down

and show that they're ready to fuck. To piss at another lobster to be like crumb eyes, basically.

Like, I piss at another lobster to be like the home, the fuck down. And let's fuck. Like, chill the beans for a minute. Wow. That's, yep. And that's your fucked fact for the day. Lobsters are crazy. Enjoy your lobster next. You'll be keep listening. We don't feel. Keep it weird. But that's the weird thing. You start pissing out your eyes to tell your man that you're ready to go. Or just say, calm down. [Music]

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