Shoko Asahara

Shoko Asahara (麻原 彰晃 Asahara Shōkō) (born March 2, 1955) is the founder and former guru of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo (now known as Aleph), convicted of masterminding the 1995 Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway as well as several other crimes. He was sentenced to death. As of September 2005, the sentence has not been carried out, pending an appeal.

Early years

Shoko Asahara was born as Chizuo Matsumoto (松本智津夫 Matsumoto Chizuo) to a large and poor family of a tatami mat maker in Japan’s remote Kumamoto Prefecture. Afflicted at birth with infantile glaucoma, he was blind in his left eye and only partially sighted in his right. Asahara was enrolled in a school for the blind as a child. Asahara graduated in 1977 and turned to the study of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. He married in 1978. During this period he worked as a masseur and sold quack medicines.

Related Topics:
Tatami - Kumamoto Prefecture - 1977 - Acupuncture - Chinese medicine - 1978 - Quack medicine

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His religious quest reportedly started in these early times, when he was intensely working to support his family and dedicated his free time to study of various religious concepts, starting from Chinese astrology and Taoism. Later Shoko Asahara practiced the Indian esoteric Yoga and Buddhism.

Related Topics:
Taoism - Yoga - Buddhism

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Very little is known about this period of his life.

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