Japan to keep restricting Aum Shinrikyo successor group’s activities
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The Public Security Examination Commission has decided to extend restrictions on the activities of Aleph, a successor group of the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, for another six months.
The decision, made Wednesday, marks the sixth time the recurrence prevention measure is imposed on the group. The extension keeps the restrictions in place until March 20, 2026.
Explaining the reason for the extension, the government commission said that the group failed to make sufficient reports as required under the law to control organizations that have committed acts of indiscriminate mass murder.
The Public Security Intelligence Agency applied for the six-month extension in July after it concluded that the 31-year-old second son of Chizuo Matsumoto, the Aum Shinrikyo founder executed in 2018 over a series of incidents involving the cult, serves as the leader of Aleph.
Still, the commission did not recognize the second son as the leader of the mainstream successor group, as it took into consideration a report Aleph submitted to the agency in August that named someone else as its leader.
In the commission’s latest decision, the second son and the 67-year-old widow of Matsumoto, who went by the name Shoko Asahara, were recognized as executives of Aleph.
Since around 2014, the second son has been conducting such Aleph rituals as “reincarnation festival” and “initiation,” while giving his own hairs to members of the group.
Holding a meeting about the management of Aleph, the son told other senior members about his intention to stop compensation payments requested by victims of Aum Shinrikyo’s 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subway system.
As for the wife, the commission recognized that she had been receiving ¥400,000 ($2,700) in funds every month from Aleph since around 2002.
The recurrence prevention measure, which began in March 2023, bans Aleph from using its 16 facilities nationwide partially or entirely, or receiving donations.
The commission did not approve the agency’s request for a ban on Aleph from newly acquiring or leasing lands or buildings in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, where it has facilities.
After the second son and the wife rejected the agency’s inspections, police in April this year searched their home in Koshigaya, Saita
Content retrieved from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/04/japan/crime-legal/aleph-restriction-activities/.
