Shoko Asahara’s ashes being kept at detention centre where he was hanged over deadly 1995 sarin gas attack

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A row is brewing among the relatives of Shoko Asahara, the former leader of a Japanese doomsday cult who was executed last week, over who should take possession of his cremated remains.



Asahara’s ashes are being kept at the Tokyo detention centre where he was hanged, along with six other former members of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, for their role in a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.

Concern is growing that former members still loyal to Asahara could attempt to steal the ashes and use them as inspiration for retaliation against his execution. The detention centre was under heavy security this week while officials decided the fate of the remains.

Japan executes sarin gas attack cult leader Shoko Asahara and six members Read more

His fourth daughter has claimed that her father, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, told detention centre guards before his death that she should take possession of his ashes.

The daughter, who has not been named by Japanese media, renounced Aum and is estranged from her mother and siblings.

Asahara’s wife and three of her other children have submitted a request to the justice ministry that they be granted custody of his ashes. The family has disputed the daughter’s claim, citing Asahara’s state of mind before his execution.

His third daughter, Rika Matsumoto, wrote on her blog that her father could not possibly have specified who should be given his remains given the poor state of his mental health. She described him as “a broken man” who was incapable of communicating.

Aum was banned after it was found to have carried out the subway attack, in which 13 people died and 6,000 were made ill, as well as an earlier attack in the city of Matsumoto that killed eight people.



After the cult resurfaced in 2000 under a new name, Aleph, its members insisted they had renounced violence and abandoned Asahara’s teachings, and agreed to pay compensation to Aum’s victims.

Law enforcement officials believe, however, that some Aleph members continue to deify Asahara, drawing inspiration from photographs and audio recordings of his voice.

The fourth daughter, who is 29, is one of six children – two sons and four daughters – whom Asahara had with his wife, a former senior member of Aum who is now part of a splinter cult.

Last November, the daughter publicly announced she had abandoned her faith in Aum and severed all ties to members of her family and smaller groups that had grown out of the original cult.

Asahara founded Aum in the mid-1980s, using a bizarre mix of Buddhist and Hindu meditation, apocalyptic teachings and yoga to attract young, often highly educated people who had grown disillusioned with modern life.

The Nikkei newspaper said in an editorial that Aum was still influential and cults were attempting to recruit followers.