The Japanese don’t have to thrash about looking for lethal drugs. I wonder if they use the old-west hangman’s knot…

“TOKYO (AP) - The executions Friday of a doomsday cult leader and six of his followers closed a chapter on one of Japan's most shocking crimes, the poison gas attack on rush-hour commuters in Tokyo's subway that killed 13 people and sickened more than 6,000.

The attack in 1995 woke up a relatively safe country to the risk of urban terrorism. The ensuing raid on the cult's compound near Mount Fuji riveted Japan, as 2,000 police officers approached with a canary in a bird cage. Shoko Asahara, the bearded, self-proclaimed guru who had recruited scientists and others to his cult, was found two months later, hiding in a compartment in a building ceiling.

The executions of the 63-year-old Asahara and the six cult members were announced by the Justice Ministry after they had been hanged, as is the practice in Japan. Two major newspapers issued extra editions and handed them out at train stations…”

www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/a...-shocking-crime.html

Apparently they're no quicker than we are about getting it done.

Thanks. I hadn't thought about that group in a long time.

Get a lope, or six.

Sorry to see that it took 23 years from the commission of the crime to the appropriate punishment though...

Still, good on them for doing it! Wish the same was true here in our country.
Don

Hanging, eh? That's cool. But I would've more expected disembowelment followed by decapitation via katana blade.

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
Get a lope, or six.

Velly dloll

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Hanging, eh? That's cool. But I would've more expected disembowelment followed by decapitation via katana blade.

That would have been the honorable way. Odviously that filth deserved no honor.

1995...it's been awhile.

Took 23 years but at least it was done.

Guess they don't get unlimited appeals like here?

I've followed this death cult for a long time, and can only say "About damned time."

A doomsday cult came within a gnat eyelash of successfully unleashing a home brewed nerve agent (sarin) in a prospective casualty dense environment.

Had the quality of the agent been better, the mechanism of delivery (plastic bags of liquid to be punctured) been more reliable, or the willingness of the terrorists to die in the attempt been higher, there could have been bodies stacked on bodies all over Tokyo.

I'd long thought these terrorists would die of old age. I'm glad to see they were finally hanged for their crimes.

Hanging, well they are a thrifty bunch.

They don't execute many in Japan, but they certainly deserved it.

I hope it hurt.

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
I hope it hurt.

At the very least it was a surprise for Asahara, as he claimed the ability to levitate.

Guess that didn't work out like he planned.

As for the long delay, the leader wasn't convicted until 2004, and his sentence delayed by the arrest of others in 2012.

The cultists executed July 6, 2018 were:
Shoko Asahara, leader of Aum Shinrikyo
Yoshihiro Inoue, Aum's "head of intelligence" and chief coordinator of the Tokyo subway attack
Tomomitsu Niimi, the getaway driver for Ikuo Hayashi, one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway attack
Tomomasa Nakagawa, one of the perpetrators of the Sakamoto family murder
Kiyohide Hayakawa, Aum's "construction minister", convicted of strangling a young cult member in 1989 suspected of dissidence
Seiichi Endo, the "head scientist" of Aum Shinrikyo
Masami Tsuchiya, Aum Shinrikyo's chief chemist and director of the sarin gas manufacturing

Aum Shinrikyo members awaiting execution as of July 6, 2018 are:
Yasuo Hayashi, one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway attack
Kenichi Hirose, one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway attack
Toru Toyoda, one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway attack
Masato Yokoyama, one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway attack
Kazuaki Okazaki, one of the perpetrators of the Sakamoto family murder
Satoro Hashimoto, one of the perpetrators of the Sakamoto family murder

A good documentary is




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/XelFvih2n_8

I'm sure it was done in a very Japanese manner, very cleanly and efficiently.

I was under the obviously mistaken impression that post-war Japan didn't have capital punishment. I don't know where I got that from. Say what you like, but some crimes just deserve it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

When the execution order is signed in Japan, the execution is conducted within five days. They tell the prisoner the morning of his execution, and he has a few hours to say his prayers, meet with a priest, and have a last meal. He is then hung, and I would expect it is done with quiet efficiency. There are photos of one of the execution chambers online, if you are curious. It is very clinical looking.

The family is notified, and any announcement of the execution comes only after the fact.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jhe888,

quote:

Originally posted by pwrlftr:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Hanging, eh? That's cool. But I would've more expected disembowelment followed by decapitation via katana blade.

That would have been the honorable way. Odviously that filth deserved no honor.

If a Japanese disembowels himself to atone for a failure (seppuku), it’s considered to be an honorable act. But if someone else pukus him, not so much…