Aum Shinrikyo

Japanese: オウム真理教

A Japanese emerging religious group founded in 1984 with Asahara Shoko (real name: Matsumoto Chizuo) as its founder. It started as a Buddhist religious group with the goal of spreading doctrines based on yoga and primitive Buddhism. While it attracted many followers, mainly young people, with its mystical doctrine, it became increasingly radicalized, planning and carrying out violent and heinous crimes in the name of religious salvation. In 1990, it established a political group called the Truth Party, and in the February House of Representatives election, Asahara and 25 other followers ran, but all lost. In October of the same year, several executives were arrested due to trouble surrounding the construction of a cult facility in Aso County, Kumamoto Prefecture. Asahara interpreted this situation as oppression of the cult, preaching teachings that even murder was acceptable as "salvation of the soul" for the cult's purpose, and proceeded with full-scale militarization. The cult has committed numerous murders and indiscriminate terrorist attacks, including the 1989 murder of lawyer Sakamoto's family (3 dead), the 1994 Matsumoto Sarin gas attack (8 dead, 140 injured), and the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack (13 dead, over 5,800 injured). In May 1995, police arrested Asahara at a cult facility in Yamanashi Prefecture. Asahara was indicted on 13 charges, including the aforementioned incident. In 1997, the cult was designated a US FTO. In 2000, it went bankrupt and was abolished as a religious organization, but later, former religious groups "Aleph" and "Hikari no Wa," as well as the "Yamada Group," which was formed as a result of internal conflict within "Aleph," split off and are under surveillance by the public security. Outside of Japan, the cult has many followers in the Russian Federation, and in July 2000, a Russian follower was involved in a case of illegal possession of weapons (the Shigachev incident). In 2016, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation designated Aum Shinrikyo a terrorist organization and banned its activities in the country. In January 2018, all criminal trials for the series of crimes involving the cult were concluded. In July of the same year, the death sentences of Asahara, whose death sentence had been finalized in 2016, and 13 other former cult leaders involved in the crimes were carried out.

Source: About Shogakukan Digital Daijisen Plus Information

Japanese:

麻原彰晃（本名：松本智津夫）を教祖とし、1984年に設立された日本の新興宗教団体。ヨガ、原始仏教などを背景とする教義をひろめることを目的とする仏教系の宗教団体として発足。神秘主義的教義で若者を中心とする信者を多く集める中、宗教的救済を名目とする暴力、凶悪犯罪を計画・実行する過激組織化が進む。1990年には政治団体「真理党」を設立し、2月の衆議院議員選挙に麻原以下信徒25名が立候補するが全員落選。同年10月、熊本県阿蘇郡での教団施設建設をめぐるトラブルにより複数の幹部が逮捕される。こうした状況を教団への弾圧と解釈した麻原は、教団の目的のためには殺人すら“魂の救済”として肯定する教えを説き本格的な武装化を進めた。1989年の坂本弁護士一家殺人事件（死者3名）、1994年の松本サリン事件（死者8名、負傷者約140名）、1995年の地下鉄サリン事件（死者13名、負傷者5800名以上）など、数多くの殺人事件、無差別テロ事件を実行。警察は1995年5月、山梨県内の教団施設で教祖麻原を逮捕。麻原は前述の事件を含む13の事件で起訴された。教団は1997年、米国FTOに指定。2000年に破産して宗教団体としては廃止となったが、その後元信者による宗教団体「Aleph(アレフ)」「ひかりの輪」および「Aleph」の内部対立から形成された“山田らの集団”が分派しており、公安の観察処分対象となっている。国外ではロシア連邦に多くの信者を抱え、2000年7月にはロシア人信者による武器不法所持事件（シガチョフ事件）が発生。2016年、ロシア連邦最高裁判所はオウム真理教をテロ組織と認定し、国内活動を禁止した。2018年1月、教団が関わった一連の事件の刑事裁判がすべて終結。同年7月、2016年に死刑判決が確定していた麻原、および事件に関わった教団の元幹部ら合計13名の死刑が執行された。

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