Chapter 1.11

Chapter 12

Although his impenetrable face would not demonstrated it Fumihiro Yoshida was satisfied with his new disciple. Already when asking the first questions about the material given the previous week he realized that Aiko had read and interpreted it properly. It was not usual for young people of Aiko's age to have the constancy and clarity that she exhibited, not in Japan, much less in the United States. Yoshida wondered if the fact of coming from Argentina would be responsible for the predisposition of Aiko but then chose to attribute it rather to her profession of music, an activity that requires great concentration and perseverance to children who choose it from a young age. He went on a little more with his verification until at one point he said.

"Well, I see that you have done a good job with the material I gave you. Before going ahead tell me if you have any questions about its contents."

Aiko thought for a moment and then answered.

" It is clear that in the last years one of the dangers that threaten Japan comes from a neighbor with a very aggressive behavior, North Korea, which now has a weapon of great power with which it could cause enormous damage in the region. Being a military, political and diplomatic problem, my question is what we can do about it from the intelligence area."

Once again the question had the effect of pleasing Yoshida, first for its wisdom and timeliness and then because his disciple included herself within the area of intelligence, a relevant symbol of psychological belonging.

"As I told you before, our area within the PSIA is part of the Second Intelligence Department which performs foreign intelligence tasks. But I have personally worked for years in the First Intelligence Department, which takes care of domestic intelligence tasks, that is, in Japanese territory. In these missions, and without revealing confidential issues, I can tell you that I have worked in the surveillance and investigation of the activities of the so-called Zainichi Koreans in the soil of our country."

"Who are they?"

" They are citizens of Korean origin residing in Japan, forming part of a community that dates from World War II and that has grown later. Although the majority do not carry out any anti-Japanese activities many cases of espionage in favor of North Korea have been detected, which is why the Japanese government carries out surveillance on some of its members. At this moment it is all I can tell you without violating my commitment not to reveal confidential data."

Yoshida paused and then inquired.

"You are satisfied with the answer? " After the assent of the young woman he reiterated." Do you have any other question?"

Aiko thought for a moment and said.

"The other issue that has caught my attention is a reference to the surveillance of sects and religious or philosophical groups. Does not that violate the freedom of worship?"

The instructor stirred in the chair as if the girl had struck a chord.

"Excellent question, and very accurate because that is the area in which we will work, once you have made the oath of loyalty. Meanwhile I'm going to advance the guidelines of the problem. Does the name Aum Shinrikyo mean anything to you?"

"No, sensei."

Once again the title Aiko used to call him pleased the instructor, who felt that it represented his true role. Taking a pen he drew some signs on a notepad placed on the small table between them, his handwriting was excellent.

オ ウ ム 真理 教

"The name Aum Shinrikyo consists of two terms from different origins. Aum is a syllable in Sanskrit that means the Universe, and Shinrikyo is a term of Japanese origin and makes reference to the truth and its transmission. Altogether the name means something like Universal Supreme Truth."

" But what is it really?"

" Aum Shinrikyo is a sect or apocalyptic cult of the End of Time, founded in 1984 by a man named Chizuo Matsumoto who later changed his name to Shoko Asahara."

"Matsumoto? The same surname as the director!"

"Yes, but this man has nothing to do with him. It is a relatively common surname in Japan."

After the clarification, Yoshida continued.

"Asahara wrote a foundational book in which he declares to be the Christ, the Lamb of God who redeems the sins of the world and carries them with him and also the only enlightened guide of Japan. Although it is generally considered a branch of Japanese Buddhism, the doctrine of Aum Shinrikyo is a confusing syncretistic mixture of Buddhist, Tibetan, Hindu and Christian elements drawn from the book of Revelation, along with Nostradamus prophecies."

"A strange cocktail."

"That because of its variety has attracted very diverse people especially in Japan."

"And what is their doctrine?"

"Asahara predicts the end of the world in a nuclear war caused by the United States, something like the Armageddon predicted by the book of Revelation 16:16, in which the immense majority of Humanity would perish except those who had received the word of salvation that only the writings of Aum teach."

"A powerful incentive to join, for those who believe it."

"Right. In short, a millenarian sect apparently like so many others, except that Aum was related to the terrible sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Metro in 1995."

"I remember having read something about it."

"Asahara publicly denied his involvement in the attack that was allegedly perpetrated by some veiled followers of the sect, which was declared a terrorist organization by a number of countries, including the United States and Russia. The Public Safety Review Commission of Japan declared it a dangerous religion and keeps a watch on the branches of Aum."

"Branches?"

" That's right, Aum Shinrikyo was later divided into a series of independent sub-sects, some of which we do not even know the name of, and these cults represent a risk in the places where they act by threats to kill their opponents."

" But what leads them to murder?"

" Certain twisted interpretations of concepts of Tibetan Buddhism, according to which killing their opponents frees them from continuing to accumulate karma."

" What is the legal status of Aum Shinrikyo?"

"The original organization does not exist anymore, at least that is what Japanese authorities believe. It has exploded in a myriad of small sects, which makes them more dangerous since these authorities do not even know who they are fighting against."

Aiko was meditating for a while on the explanations heard and Yoshida preferred not to interrupt those mental processes. Finally the young woman asked.

"But if the field of development of these beliefs is Japan, what is the sense of information seeking in the United States?"

"I told you that the sect has the status of a terrorist organization in the United States and also in Canada. It is believed that there are groups related to the split cults of Aum in both countries and in other places, associated with the Japanese collectivities in each territory but also with autochthonous millenarian groups, some of them with military training. These unite the apocalyptic tendencies of Aum with the usual theories that see conspiracies orchestrated by the Jewish and Masons, but also by the Dutch, the English royal family and who knows what else."

"Really an indigestible cocktail."

"And extremely dangerous."

"If I understood well it is about these groups that we are going to act."

"That's right, once you take the mandatory oath."

"Can I ask what these groups have to do with my profession as a pianist?"

Yoshida looked at his old wristwatch.

"I'm afraid this is going to be all for today. I do not want to bother you with further data and I prefer that you process and assimilate the information I have already given you so far."

When arriving at her house Aiko changed hastily her clothes to arrive at time to her job at the restaurant where she passed other four hours of performance so that when she finally returned to her house the girl was exhausted. After showering she was about to go to bed when she remembered the CD lent by Fumihiro Yoshida. Aiko opened the laptop and placed the CD and made it run. It was a series of scenes, undoubtedly recorded and compiled by the Tokyo police, about the attack on the Metro in 1995. The crudity of some of the images made her eyes burn. Attracted by the recorded sounds of the sirens Natsuko appeared at the door of the room and sat on the bed next to the girl and thus, shedding tears and holding hands the two women watched the scenes that had occurred more than two decades before.

Attacks by members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect against the Japanese civilian population had begun on June 27, 1994 in Matsumoto, when using a refrigerated truck a cloud of sarin gas was spread over an area in which the judges were conducting a trial against the cult. There were seven dead and 500 injured.

Later, in the worst episode in the country that took place after the Second World War, the terrorists of the sect launched five simultaneous attacks on different lines of the Tokyo Metro that circulated in the area of the seat of the Japanese government, killing thirteen people, injuring fifty and leaving another thousand with transient vision problems.