Aum Shinrikyo, the apocalyptic group that engaged in a terrorist gas attacks in Japan over four years ago, continues to grow, while facing new ostracism in Japanese society.
An issue of Millennial Stew notes that the numbers vary on Aum’s membership. The police report that after being disbanded after the attacks, Aum now has 700 followers living in communes and 1,200 scattered elsewhere, in contrast to 20,000 before the gas attack. Another report says there are 500 full-time devotees, as opposed to 1,100 members at the time of the gassings.
Writer Tom Doyle adds that “The overall impression is that, after losing members in the wake of the subway attack, the group has started to grow again. The organization has 38 compounds around the country, and continues to recruit new members at universities. Financially, Aum continues to make millions from its retail computer business. Aum may even have helped raise money for Prime Minister Obuchi’s faction.”
Aum’s leader, Shoko Asahara, has predicted the end-time to arrive anywhere from 1999 to 2003. Police fear that the release of popular Aum spokesman Fumihir Joyu this December may precipitate another attack. Joyu may also provide the leadership the group has lacked in Asahara’s absence, adds Doyle. There has been a recent spate of reports of residents trying to keep Aum members from moving into their towns as well as police stepping up attempts to limit Aum’s activities.
Doyle concludes that this continuing pressure on Aum (creating greater solidarity) along with the millennial stirrings in Japanese society at large (Both Aum and Japanese popular culture share a fascination with Nostradamus’ prophesies) may possibly once more lead Aum in troubling directions.