Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Aleph (Japanese: アレフ, Hepburn: Arefu), better known by their former name Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教, Ōmu Shinrikyō; lit. 'religion of Aum Supreme Truth'), is a Japanese new religious movement and doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was then found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.
Aleph
アレフ
Type
Japanese new religious movement
Classification
Buddhist new religious movement
Orientation
Dharmic
Theology
Western millenarianism/millennialism (formerly)
Structure
Yoga meetings
Region
Japan
Founder
Shoko Asahara
Origin
1987; 39 years ago
Tokyo, Japan
Separations
Hikari no Wa (2008), Yamada's Club, Keroyon Club
Members
Approximately 1,650 (2011)[1]
Other names
Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教, Ōmu Shinrikyō) (1984–2007)
The group says that those who carried out the attacks did so secretly, without their plans being known to other executives and ordinary believers. Asahara insisted on his innocence in a radio broadcast relayed from Russia and directed toward Japan.[2]
On 6 July 2018, after exhausting all appeals, Asahara and six followers on death row were executed as punishment for the 1995 attacks and other crimes.[3][4] Six additional followers were executed on 26 July.[5] At 12:10 AM, on New Year's Day 2019, at least nine people were injured (one seriously) when a car was deliberately driven into crowds celebrating the new year on Takeshita Street in Tokyo. Local police reported the arrest of Kazuhiro Kusakabe, the suspected driver, who allegedly admitted to intentionally ramming his vehicle into crowds to protest his opposition to the death penalty, specifically in retaliation for the execution of the aforementioned Aum cult members.
Aleph (Japanese: アレフ, Hepburn: Arefu), better known by their former name Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教, Ōmu Shinrikyō; lit. 'religion of Aum Supreme Truth'), is a Japanese new religious movement and doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was then found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.
Aleph
アレフ
Type
Japanese new religious movement
Classification
Buddhist new religious movement
Orientation
Dharmic
Theology
Western millenarianism/millennialism (formerly)
Structure
Yoga meetings
Region
Japan
Founder
Shoko Asahara
Origin
1987; 39 years ago
Tokyo, Japan
Separations
Hikari no Wa (2008), Yamada's Club, Keroyon Club
Members
Approximately 1,650 (2011)[1]
Other names
Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教, Ōmu Shinrikyō) (1984–2007)
The group says that those who carried out the attacks did so secretly, without their plans being known to other executives and ordinary believers. Asahara insisted on his innocence in a radio broadcast relayed from Russia and directed toward Japan.[2]
On 6 July 2018, after exhausting all appeals, Asahara and six followers on death row were executed as punishment for the 1995 attacks and other crimes.[3][4] Six additional followers were executed on 26 July.[5] At 12:10 AM, on New Year's Day 2019, at least nine people were injured (one seriously) when a car was deliberately driven into crowds celebrating the new year on Takeshita Street in Tokyo. Local police reported the arrest of Kazuhiro Kusakabe, the suspected driver, who allegedly admitted to intentionally ramming his vehicle into crowds to protest his opposition to the death penalty, specifically in retaliation for the execution of the aforementioned Aum cult members.
