Crying brought no mercy: Rescuing the children of the Aum cult
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Almost a month after the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult unleashed a devastating nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subway system on March 20, 1995, dozens of abused, famished children were rescued from its compound in Yamanashi Prefecture.
The deadliest terrorist attack in Japan’s history left 14 people dead and thousands injured. In its long aftermath, national attention mostly focused on the perpetrators. But Aum cultists had children who were separated from them and ruthlessly indoctrinated, innocent victims who have largely been forgotten.
Two weeks after the attack, Mitsuo Hosaka, now 78, was working at a child welfare center in Yamanashi when police told him he would have to take charge of some of the children rescued from the Aum compound known as Satyam. Over 100 in total were saved, some taken in by relatives.
When the 53 children arrived by bus on April 14, they were hungry and dirty, some so weak they could not stand. Hosaka was astounded by their expressionless faces. Some wore strange “enlightenment” headgear designed by cult founder Shoko Asahara and his team of engineers.
In a recent interview with Kyodo News, Hosaka explained how he and his colleagues were determined to provide the children with a space that would make them feel safe.
There were 27 boys and 26 girls, aged 4 to 14. A doctor decided eight needed to be hospitalized. The remainder had to be fed right away.
“They had poor manners, and almost all of them scooped the food up with their bare hands,” Hosaka said. “They wanted seconds and thirds. They licked their bowls clean.”
Aside from nourishment, the children needed help with bathing. From the day after their arrival, they played like mad and became filthy. They had been restricted from going out and were told poison gas attacks were happening. But even while playing, the children seemed to have no sense of camaraderie and would not play together.
As victims of brainwashing, their mental health was the more difficult task. They were hostile and demanded to be returned to Aum. Some even tried to escape. But none said they missed their parents — Asahara had forbidden that.
“In the Aum teachings, the parent-child relationship is denied as an example of the desire for worldly things,” Hosaka said. “They said they’d rather die than say they wanted to see their parents.”
Abuse was the norm at Satyam. An Aum “Minister of Education” would instruct the children for an hour every day. Their time was devoted to ascetic practices, singing Aum songs and sitting crossed-legged in the “zazen” lotus position.
Those deemed to lack sincerity had their hands and feet bound. Some were held in this “bound lotus position” for 24 hours and could not even go to the bathroom.
Tears were met with silence.
Content retrieved from: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/05/c03b665fe0f4-feature-crying-brought-no-mercy-rescuing-the-children-of-the-aum-cult.html.
