Shoko Asahara (Aum Shinrikyo)

In March 1995, Japan saw its worst domestic terrorist attack.

A doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo (“Supreme Truth”) released the toxic nerve agent sarin on three lines of the Tokyo Metro at rush hour, killing 13 people, severely – in some cases fatally – injuring 50 and causing temporary blindness for thousands more.

Aum was founded in 1987 by Chizuo Matsumoto, a blind practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, who took the name Shoko Asahara after declaring himself enlightened.

He then claimed to be a guru so powerful that he could levitate while meditating. He began preaching to over 1,000 followers, declaring he was the Buddha, a reincarnation of Shiva and the Christ Messiah, setting up communities, and promising followers they’d reach enlightenment.

He was, by all accounts, a magnetic personality whose claims to divinity, along with distinctive teachings about Indian religion and health practices, were readily accepted by his followers.

In 1989, Aum Shinrikyo was recognised as an official religion, and membership grew, peaking at 60,000 worldwide by 1995.

Asahara encouraged his followers to reject materialism and donate their money to him. Rumours began circulating of drug use, shock therapy, extortion and even murder.

At various times, he implicated Jews, the Dutch, the British royal family and the Freemasons in intricate conspiracies, which the cult publicised through the media of magazines, anime, manga, or Japanese comic books.

Asahara became obsessed with Biblical prophecies and introduced armageddon into his doctrine, shifting the group from a religious organisation to a militant one.

He enlisted scientists to manufacture chemical weapons and plotted to overthrow the government.

Following the Tokyo attack, authorities recovered enough sarin to kill four million people along with explosives, chemical weapons and a Russian military helicopter in possession of the cult.

Asahara was sentenced to death and hanged in 2018 along with six of his followers. Despite this, the group is still said to be active.