Aum Supreme Truth Cult Successor Aleph Has Widow, Son of Executed Founder as Officers or Members, Govt Commission Finds
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The Public Security Examination Commission on Wednesday handed down a sixth regulatory action against Aleph, the primary successor organization of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, based on the Law on the Control of Organizations Which Committed Indiscriminate Mass Murder.
The commission officially recognized both the 31-year-old second son and the 67-year-old widow of Chizuo Matsumoto, the cult’s founder who was executed in 2018, as either members or officers of Aleph.
This recognition is in line with the findings of an investigation by the Public Security Intelligence Agency. However, the commission did not approve part of the agency’s request, and limited the recurrence prevention measure to within the scope of the previous ones.
According to the decision by the commission, the second son conveyed to Aleph’s officials via online conferences his intentions about its personnel changes and halting its compensation payments to the victims of its past deadly activities, among other matters. He was also found to have told them not to report Aleph’s revenue-generating activities to the agency. He reportedly provided his hair to its members for a “reincarnation ritual.”
Based on these findings, the commission recognized that Aleph has made decisions in accordance with the second son’s wishes and identified him as its member or officer.
In its request submitted to the commission in July, the agency alleged that the second son calls himself the second “guru” and leads the organization’s management. However, the commission did not make a clear statement about this in its latest action. The commission also declined to accept the agency’s assertion that the second son is Aleph’s “representative” because the commission stated that he is not a member of Aleph’s “joint council” for its management.
As for Matsumoto’s widow, the commission stated that she has received about ¥400,000 a month as a fee to use her paintings since around 2002; that she stays at an Aleph facility in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, and manages it with the second son; and that she attended and spoke at a meeting about the Aleph’s management.
Content retrieved from: https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20250904-278997/.
