In the wake of the terrifying attack on the US Capitol last week, there’s been a lot of talk about cults. With little wonder. The growing QAnon cult that surrounds US President Donald Trump played a key role in the insurrection we all witnessed in horror on January 6th. One journalist in Japan recently made an insightful observation about how an infamous cult in her country operated – and how it’s frighteningly close to the behavior of Trump and his QAnon followers.
A Reporter Who Survived Aum
Aum Shinrikyo is mainly known in the West for its hideous sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1997. However, Aum’s murder spree started before then and claimed many more lives than just those lost on the Tokyo Metro. In the end, some 190 members of Aum were convicted of crimes that included murder, kidnapping, and assault.
Aum’s leader, Asahara Shoko, targeted anyone who disparaged him or worked to hold the organization to account. One such person was lawyer Sakamoto Tsutsumi, who filed suit to prove that members of Aum were being held by Asahara against their will. Aum members brutally murdered Sakamoto along with his wife and infant son.
Journalist Egawa Shoko (江川紹子) nearly met a similar fate. Her crime? Investigating the death of her friend, Sakamoto Tsutsumi, and proving that Aum was behind it. At the time, the Aum killers had disposed of the family’s bodies – they wouldn’t be found until after the Tokyo Metro attack – and seemed like they would evade responsibility for their crimes. Asahara ordered several of his followers to kill Egawa. The Aum assailants inserted a hose into her mailbox and shot phosgene gas at her. (Aum had previously used sarin several months before in a deadly attack in Nagano. Asahara ordered the use of phosgene to avoid drawing suspicion.)
Fortunately, Egawa heard the hissing sound from the hose and sped away in her car. She suffered two weeks of injuries to her esophagus but fully recovered after.
The One Indispensable Tool of Cults
In an NHK survey conducted last year, over 57% of those surveyed thought Trump's government would have a "significant negative influence" on Japan. Click To TweetSo suffice it to say that Egawa Shouko knows a thing or two about demagogues and dangerous cults. She brought some of that experience to bear recently while comments on the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6th.
