30 Years After Sarin Attack — Lessons Learned / Brother Kept Diary For Sister Caught in Sarin Attack, Chronicling Her 25-Year Struggle With Illness

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:40 JST, March 19, 2025

This is the first installment of a series that examines the scars left by the Aum Supreme Truth cult’s chemical attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, and explores the lessons learned from that tragedy.

Early afternoon on March 1, Kazuo Asakawa, 65, visited a cemetery in the suburbs of Tokyo. There he spoke to the grave of his younger sister Sachiko, who died five years ago at the age of 56.

“Look how much our family has grown. I wish I could have shown them to you, Sachiko.”

Three of his grandchildren, aged 2 to 5, placed their small hands together in prayer. Kazuo’s fourth grandchild had been born in January, adding yet another member.

His 5-year-old grandchild recently saw Kazuo being interviewed by a reporter about the incident and asked him curiously, “What’s an interview?”

“A long time ago, there was a sarin gas attack on the subway …,” Kazuo said, talking to his grandchild about the incident for the first time. He intends to tell his grandchildren more someday about the incident, which occurred 30 years ago and took Sachiko’s life 25 years later.

In 1995, Sachiko was working at a supermarket outside Tokyo. Then 31 years old, she commuted by bus from her home in the suburbs of Tokyo.

On March 20, however, she happened to take a subway train on the Marunouchi Line to attend a training session in Tokyo. It was on that train that a senior member of the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult released sarin, a highly poisonous nerve gas.

When Kazuo rushed to the hospital, he saw Sachiko, her complexion deathly pale. She was lying on a bed in the intensive care unit, with tubes connected to her body from head to toe.

He spoke into her ear, saying: “Your big brother is here now, so you’ll be all right.” But there was no response.

The doctor told Kazuo: “It looks like she inhaled a deadly poison, like an agricultural chemical. She could pass away at any moment.”

He wondered what on earth had happened.

Afterward, he thought of the diary that Sachiko wrote in every day. “When she regains consciousness, I’ll tell her ‘this is what happened to you.’” He began writing in the diary on his sister’s behalf.

He began with a description of what happened on the day the incident took place.

“Arrived at the medical university hospital at around 12:00 p.m. on March 20.” “Nakano-Sakaue Station to the station’s office.” He wrote the time she was apparently taken to the hospital and the fact that she collapsed at Nakano-Sakaue Station and was taken into the station’s office.

Sachiko had inhaled sarin gas, which caused serious damage to her brain as a result of insufficient oxygen.

“According to the doctor, a hole needs to be made under her Adam’s apple for artificial respiration. She won’t be able to breathe through her mouth anytime soon.” (March 23, 1995)

“[The doctor in charge] said something like she may remain in this condition for a long time, so we had better think about preparing ourselves [for that].” (April 5, 1995)

As if in answer to the family’s prayers, Sachiko appeared to shed tears when her mother spoke to her in early May 1995. Kazuo’s handwriting also became smoother.

“When the nurse asked Sachiko, ‘What is your name?’ she answered in a hoarse voice, saying word by word, ‘a-sa-ka-wa-sa-chi-ko.’… I was so moved I cried for a while.” (June 30, 1995)

Sachiko could not move or speak at any length. There was no hope of her being discharged from the hospital.

Sachiko had been devoted to her relatives, presenting Kazuo’s son, who was about to enter elementary school, with a school backpack the day before the sarin attack.

During those days, Kazuo would close the diary, as if to inspire himself, with the following words: “Let’s live as hard as we can once more tomorrow!” “Hooray, hooray for Sachiko! Hang in there, Sachiko! Hooray!”

As her rehabilitation began, Kazuo tried to stay positive.

After the attack, Kazuo avoided listening to news reports about it for a while. However, as he had multiple interactions with other victims and their relatives, he changed his mind to “live with an awareness of the incident.”

He even attended the trial that began in April 1996 of the cult’s founder Chizuo Matsumoto, also known as Shoko Asahara. Matsumoto was ultimately executed at the age of 63.

“It’s infuriating [to see Sachiko suffer so much] because of those bastards! I’m so damn angry!” (Oct. 4, 1996)

The diary also recorded Sachiko’s feelings when Kazuo was due to appear as a witness in open court, with senior members of the cult as defendants.

“‘There’s going to be a trial. What do you think, Sachiko?’ I asked her. She shouted, ‘Idiots! The death penalty [for them].’” (Nov. 23, 1999)

Matsumoto, who was accused of crimes in 13 cases, including the sarin gas attack on the subway system, was sentenced to death in February 2004.

Kazuo vented his feelings in the diary. “Even though he [Matsumoto] was sentenced to death, our lives will not change. This doesn’t mean that Sachiko will get better, either.” (Feb. 27, 2004)

After 8½ years of hospitalization, Sachiko was discharged and went to live at Kazuo’s home.

Various expenses weighed heavily on the family budget, including the cost of a wheelchair, a special bed and diapers. Kazuo and his wife, who both worked, did their best with the help of caregivers. But they had little time to spend with their children and there were many gaps in the diary.

Sarin gnawed away at Sachiko’s body over many years. In October 2017, she suddenly had convulsions and was hospitalized. Her body became increasingly rigid and she was unable to speak. Her weight fell as low as about 25 kilograms.

In February 2020, Kazuo’s first grandchild was born. When a recording of the baby’s crying voice was played close to her ear, Sachiko expressed her joy by bending her body backward fiercely. But a month later, on March 10, she took her last breath after a 25-year struggle.

The cause of death was hypoxic encephalopathy caused by sarin gas poisoning. “You put up a good fight. You must be tired. Have a good rest now.” Kazuo said to Sachiko.

Kazuo lives an active life with his family of six, including his wife, a daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren.

On March 10, the anniversary of Sachiko’s death, he made an offering at the altar in his home and placed his hands together in prayer.

Kazuo feels that the victims and their bereaved families have been left behind with little care. He will never forget what Sachiko said to him when she could still speak.

“I’m sorry to give you trouble,” she said. He was sorry she had been made to think that way.

Compensation from Aum’s successor organizations has not been paid, and mental care for the victims and their bereaved families has not been sufficient. “At the very least, crime victims need to be provided with food, clothing, and shelter so that they can live on their own,” Kazuo said.

He still feels depressed when he looks at photos of Sachiko — of her smiling gently before the sarin attack, trying to smile in a wheelchair, and unable to smile in her final moments.

Thirty years have passed since the sarin attack. Kazuo had said his fury at the cult would never disappear, but he has also come to think that “I want our family to be always smiling and cheerful. Sachiko was devoted to her family and she would have wanted that.”