Bereaved Families of 1995 Subway Sarin Attack Victims Hold Symposium in Tokyo; Preserving Memories of Incident

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:32 JST, March 16, 2025

Bereaved family members of the 1995 subway sarin attack victims held a symposium ahead of the 30th anniversary of the incident in Tokyo on Saturday.

Shizue Takahashi, 78, who lost her husband in the attack, said at the symposium, “Bereaved families have not stopped shedding tears even 30 years after the incident.”

To the audience of about 200, Takahashi said, “Everyone the Aum Supreme Truth cult comes in contact with meets with misfortune.”

“Though I have heard the incident is fading from memory, surviving victims and our lawyers are still fighting a successor organization of the cult. This is not over,” she said.

She also showed that an association of bereaved family members and surviving victims has made a website which carries notes written by bereaved family members and video clips of interviews with them.

“Aum played upon psychological conditions of anxious young people,” said Rissho University Prof. Kimiaki Nishida, an expert on religious cults.

“Even today, similar organizations could appear. To prevent people from being played upon, it is important for them to live in a way in which they are not dependent on others,” he added.