Doomsday Cults Part 2: Aum Shinrikyo | 25
History of the 90s
Kathy Kenzora
4.7 • 610 Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2020
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of History of the 90s we continue our look back at the rise of doomsday cults in the years leading up to the new millennium.
The Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, killed 13 people and injured over 5,000 others in a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Subway System in March 1995. It’s believed they were trying to bring about a world war that would result in an all-out nuclear war. Aum’s leader Shoko Asahara convinced his members that only they would survive the nuclear war and would transcend to a new utopian society.
Aum Shinrikyo reportedly had 40,000 members in countries around the world including Japan, Russia and the United States. In Tokyo, the majority of their members were highly educated young men who had grown disillusioned with Japanese society’s pressure to succeed. With the help of these followers, Asahara was able to build a network of chemical labs and computer companies worth a billion dollars.
Contact:
Twitter: @1990shistory
Facebook: @1990shistory
Instagram: @that90spodcast
Email: 90s@curiouscast.ca
Guest:
Paul Midford, Professor and Director of the Japan Program at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Kathy. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to History of the 90s |
| 0:04.7 | early and ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime. |
| 0:12.6 | Akashi Shizuco was a 31-year-old seamstress turned cashier, and she was on her way to an employee |
| 0:18.7 | training seminar. She boarded the subway car at Kasumigasaki Station, a major transfer point on the underground |
| 0:26.3 | line, which would take her to her final destination in West Tokyo. |
| 0:31.5 | But once she was on the train, she immediately collapsed into a vegetative state. |
| 0:38.2 | I'm Kathy Kinsora, and on this episode of History of the 90s, |
| 0:42.4 | we continue our look at the rise of doomsday cults at the end of the 20th century. |
| 0:48.2 | Today, the story of a group in Japan that had a dangerous belief in the impending apocalypse. |
| 1:04.0 | On March 20, 1995, five men boarded separate subway trains headed for downtown Tokyo. |
| 1:11.9 | It was the height of the morning rush hour. |
| 1:14.8 | Nine million commuters were making their way to work. |
| 1:18.6 | These men, all highly educated professionals, were about to carry out a deadly attack. |
| 1:25.1 | Each carried at least two packages wrapped in newspaper and a long umbrella with a |
| 1:30.3 | sharpened tip. At exactly the same time, they placed their packages on the floor and punctured them |
| 1:37.6 | with their umbrellas. Then they ran off. Within minutes, commuters began gasping for air and collapsing, as the deadly seren gas |
| 1:47.8 | contained inside the packages began to seep out and permeate the air. The men that were |
| 1:54.4 | responsible for this sarin attack were members of Om Shenrico. |
| 2:05.0 | Thank you. members of Om Shenrikio. The group was founded in 1984 in Tokyo, Japan, by Shoko Asahara. |
| 2:11.5 | His real name was Chuzio Matsumoto, and he was born partially blind, the sixth of seven children whose parents were poor shopkeepers. |
| 2:21.2 | After failing to get into medical school, Asahara studied pharmacology and acupuncture. |
| 2:27.5 | He eventually opened his own pharmacy, specializing in Chinese medicine. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kathy Kenzora, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Kathy Kenzora and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.