The Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo Subway

Running Head : SARIN GAS ATTACK IN JAPAN

The Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo Subway

Abstract

Terrorism has always been a part of human 's history . Although there is still no clear explanation about the act of terrorism , a terrorist and terrorism itself , it is evident that it has a drastic consequence on the society and the people 's lives . Technically , terrorism is classified as international and domestic . This will focus on a particular domestic terrorism - the Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo Subway . Included here is the account of the

incident , the perpetrators , the chemical used , the victims and the long-term effect of this incident

The Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo Subway

The Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo Subway was considered the worst terrorist attack in Japan . Five members of the Aum Shinrikyo armed with sarin gas executed the assault on the morning of March 20 , 1995 in the busy subways of Tokyo . Five more members were waiting outside as getaway drivers . The perpetrators entered the Marunouchi , Hibiya and the Chiyoda subway lines with bags of sarin covered with news . They boarded trains and released the sarin by pricking the bags with their pointed umbrellas . As the liquid nerve agent turned into gas and mixed with the air , the commuters were immediately poisoned . It resulted to 12 deaths and more than 3 ,000 were injured

Because sarin poisoning was still unfamiliar during that time , Japan 's medical system had a hard time diagnosing and treating the victims Hospitals were only given information on the diagnosis and treatment through fax by Dr . Yanagisawa Nobuo who had encountered treating sarin poisoning

Today , many of the victims still suffer from the nerve agent 's after effects such as breathing problems , depression and brain damage

Aum Shinrikyo

Aum Shinrikyo is the Japanese phrase for Supreme Truth ' It is founded in 1984 by partially blind Chizuo Matsumoto , known as Master Shoko Asahara to his followers . It started as a yoga and meditation class and progressed later on . It was recognized as a religious organization in 1989 and it was called a religion for the elite because the recruits were mostly young graduates from the country 's premium universities . This group worships Shiva being their god and its belief is a combination of Buddhism , Taoism , tantric yoga and Asahara 's interpretation of Christianity . Their teachings have great emphasis on apocalyptic scenarios and millennial visions being Nostradamus as one of their prophets . Asahara also prophesized that Japan would soon be annihilated by biological , nuclear and chemical weapons as a part of the impending Armageddon in 1999 , and only the followers of Aum Shinrikyo will survive . There are three training systems the followers must undergo in to obtain deliverance . The first is called the tantric yoga where the recruit is taught basic yoga , ways of personal cleansing and meditation . The second is called the siddhi course where the students are taught the release of an energy called kundalini which they believed to be...