Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway

The Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, usually referred to in the Japanese media as the 地下鉄サリン事件 (chikatetsu sarin jiken "subway sarin incident") was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by members of the religious group Aum Shinrikyo on March 20, 1995. In five coordinated attacks, the conspirators released sarin gas on several lines of the Tokyo Subway, killing twelve people and injuring some six thousand more. The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatacho, home to the Japanese government. This was (and remains, as of 2005) the most serious attack that has occurred in Japan since the end of the Second World War.

The attack

Monday, 20 March, 1995 was for most a normal workday, though the following day was a national holiday. The attack came at the peak of the Monday morning rush hour on one of the world's busiest commuter transport systems: the Tokyo subway system transports millions of passengers daily; during rush hour, trains are frequently so crowded that it is impossible to move.

Related Topics:
20 March - 1995 - National holiday

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The liquid sarin was contained in plastic bags which each team then wrapped in newspapers. Each perpetrator carried two packets of sarin totalling approximately one litre of sarin, except Hayashi Yasuo, who carried three bags. A single drop of sarin the size of the head of a pin can kill an adult.

Related Topics:
Sarin - Litre

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Carrying their packets of sarin and umbrellas with sharpened tips, the perpetrators boarded their appointed trains; at prearranged stations, each perpetrator dropped his package and punctured it several times with the sharpened tip of his umbrella before escaping to his accomplice's waiting get-away car.

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Chiyoda line

The Chiyoda line (千代田線) runs from Kita-senjū (北千住) in northeast Tokyo to Yoyogi-uehara (代々木上原) in the west.

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Two men were assigned to drop sarin packets on the Chiyoda line, Hayashi Ikuo and Niimi Tomomitsu. Niimi was the get-away driver.

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Hayashi, wearing a surgical mask of the type commonly worn by Japanese people during cold and flu season, boarded the southwestbound 7:48am Chiyoda line train number A725K on the first car, and punctured his bag of sarin at Shin-ochanomizu Station (新御茶ノ水駅) in the central business district before making his escape.

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Two people were killed and 231 suffered serious injuries.

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Marunouchi line (Ogikubo-bound)

Two men, Hirose Kenichi and Kitamura K?ichi, were assigned to release sarin on the westbound Marunouchi line (丸ノ内線) destined for Ogikubo (荻窪).

Related Topics:
Marunouchi line - Ogikubo

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Hirose boarded the third car of Train A777, and released his sarin at Ochanomizu Station.

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Despite two passengers being removed from the train at Nakano-sakaue Station, the train continued on to its destination, car three still soaked with liquid sarin. At Ogikubo, new passengers boarded the now-eastbound train, and they too were affected by sarin, until the train was finally taken out of service at Shin-koenji Station.

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This attack resulted in one death and 358 serious injuries.

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Marunouchi line (Ikebukuro-bound)

Two members were assigned to release sarin on the Ikebukuro (池袋)-bound Marunouchi line, Yokoyama Masato and Tonozaki Kiyotaka. Tonozaki was the get-away driver.

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Yokoyama boarded the 7:39am B801 train at Shinjuku (新宿) on the fifth car. He released his sarin at Yotsuya (四谷).

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Yokoyama only succeeded in puncturing one of his packets, and only made one hole, resulting in the sarin being released relatively slowly. The train reached its destination at 8:30am, and returned to Ikebukuro as the B901. At Ikebukuro the train was evacuated and searched, but the searchers failed to discover the sarin packets, and the train departed Ikebukuro at 8:32 as the Shinjuku-bound A801. At Hongo-san-chome, staff removed the sarin packets and mopped the floor, but the train continued to Shinjuku, and then returned again to Ikebukuro as the B901. The train was finally put out of service at Kokkai-gijidomae Station at 9:27, one hour and forty minutes after the sarin was released.

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This attack resulted in approximately 200 serious injuries, though no fatalities.

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Hibiya line (departing Naka-meguro)

The team of Toru Toyoda and Katsuya Takahashi were assigned to release sarin on the northeastbound Hibiya line (日比谷線). Takahashi was the get-away driver.

Related Topics:
Toru Toyoda - Hibiya line

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Toyoda boarded the first car of the 7:59am B711T train bound for T?bu-d?butsukoen (東武動物公園駅) and punctured his sarin packet at Ebisu. Three stops later passengers had begun to panic, and several were removed from the train at Kamiyacho and taken to hospital. Still, the train continued to Kasumigaseki, though the first car was empty. The train was evacuated and taken out of service at Kasumigaseki.

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One person died and 532 were seriously injured.

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Hibiya line (Naka-meguro-bound)

Hayashi Yasuo and Sugimoto Shigeo were assigned to the southwestbound Hibiya line departing Kita-senjū for Naka-meguro.

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Hayashi received, at his own insistence in an apparent bid to allay suspicions and prove his loyalty to the group, three packets of sarin while everyone else got two. He boarded the third car of the 7:43 A720S train from Kita-senjū at Ueno Station (上野駅). He released his sarin two stops later, at Akihabara (秋葉原), making the most punctures of any of the perpetrators.

Related Topics:
Ueno Station - Akihabara

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Passengers began to be affected immediately. At the next station, Kodenmacho, a passenger kicked the packet onto the platform; four people waiting at that station died as a result. A puddle of sarin, however, remained on the train floor as the train continued its route. at 8:10 a passenger pressed the emergency stop button, but as the train was in a tunnel at the time, it proceeded to Tsukiji Station (築地駅). When the doors opened at Tsukiji, several passengers collapsed onto the platform, and the train was immediately taken out of service.

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This train made five stops after the gas was released; along the way, eight people died. 275 more were seriously injured.

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