Shoko Asahara, hanged cult guru, used mixture of charisma and mysticism to lure followers

As do all these cult leaders.  World is full of gullible, easily misled people for these "leaders" to prey on.

I'm going to drink to this! Fantastic news. I bet he messed his pants on the walk to the rope!

As do all these cult leaders. World is full of gullible, easily misled people for these "leaders" to prey on.

Yep. I just wonder if Aum or ‘Aleph’ should now be referred to as a ‘religion’ rather than a ‘cult’ seeing that Asahara is dead.

After 23 years of my taxes (and yours) propping up Asahara's existence at the pleasure of the Justice Minister, now they can be better spent on hospitals, schools, SDF presence in the seas off China, more wasted salaries of politicians debating consumption tax hikes - all the other things in this day and age.

That is all I can think - no joy and certainly no remorse.

If the police had bothered to investigate the Matsumoto sarin attack instead of simply deciding that one of the victims (Yoshiyuki Kōno) was the perpetrator, the attack on the lawyer and the subway attacks could have been prevented. This was despite having a tipoff saying that Aum were responsible, but there has never been an inquiry into their failings.

Japan isn't the land of the rising sun

it has become the land of the cultists.

its awash with cults and so called 'new religions'

some are benign, some are sad.

but many are simply dangerous. And they are hiding in plain sight.

If the police had bothered to investigate the Matsumoto sarin attack instead of simply deciding that one of the victims (Yoshiyuki Kōno) was the perpetrator, the attack on the lawyer and the subway attacks could have been prevented. This was despite having a tipoff saying that Aum were responsible, but there has never been an inquiry into their failings.

There are so many unanswered questions about Aum that have simply been swept under the carpet. Why did the Matsumoto police attempt to pin the crime on Mr. Kono when he was actually a victim? Where did Aum's reported $300m come from and go to? Why did the Dalai Lama welcome Asahara in India? What was Asahara doing in the US? What was the involvement of senior Japanese politicians with Aum in the early 90s? Who supported and organised Aum's election campaign for the 1990 general election? Is there any truth in the rumours that Aum were part of an attempted coup?

Sadly, we'll never know now.

Alfie me thinks he was cia home grown terrorist that simply drank too much of his Kool aid and went off script

Alfie Noakes,

Why did the Matsumoto police attempt to pin the crime on Mr. Kono when he was actually a victim?

Incompetence?

Where did Aum's reported $300m come from and go to?

Good question!

Why did the Dalai Lama welcome Asahara in India?

The Dalai Lama, though he does say a lot of good things, does occasionally get it wrong.

What was Asahara doing in the US?

Recruiting or trying to recruit? He wasn't very successful. He had better luck in Russia though.

What was the involvement of senior Japanese politicians with Aum in the early 90s?

LDP misjudgement. Not an unusual occurrence.

Who supported and organised Aum's election campaign for the 1990 general election?

Very few, as far as I know. See above.

Is there any truth in the rumours that Aum were part of an attempted coup?

That never was a danger. Nothing to worry about there.

A delay in process dilutes the effectiveness of the sentence as a deterrent or solace for survivors.

Hellokitty321 - yes, this is rarely brought up - if at all these days.

If the competency of the police investigative forces was up to scratch, they would have jumped Aum after the first terrible Matsumoto attack. Ineptness and indecision allowed Aum to proceed with it's even more heinous plan - the subway attack.

They had the tip and circumstantial evidence, but did not follow through even though 7 people had died and hundreds were injured. Sadly a terrible blunder.

Those of us around at the time have not forgotten how the police bungled the Matsumoto investigation and how their egregious failure gave the cultists time to carry out their nefarious sarin attack. Authorities of every stripe fear blame, criticism and especially punishment, hence all evidence of official negligence and errors has undoubtedly been shredded, erased and quietly consigned to oblivion so that those responsible can sleep better at night.

Had they actually been PRODUCTIVE starting way back then and used all the effort they did CONSTRUCTIVELY, they likely could have managed to get Cannabis Re-legalized in Japan.

THAT would have been a worth while effort, instead of what they did. Such a waste, they would have been national HEROES then.

Interesting fact: the national police actually had the U S FBI look into the Matsumoto incident and were told that it looked like a test of the gas.