In 1995, Aum Shinrikyo, a Tokyo-based Doomsday cult, conducted the largest terrorist attack in Japan's history. 13 people were killed and 6000 people were injured as a result of Aum's sarin gas attack perpetrated on three crowded Tokyo subway trains during rush hour on the morning of March 20, 1995. Director Atsushi Sakahara was on one of those cars and has suffered lifelong damage to his nervous system and effects of PTSD as a result. Twenty-years later, Atsushi decides to face the cult.
The film starts after a year spent negotiating the terms of their meeting. Atsushi and Araki, the PR agent and current leader and the cult, finally come together in person. The men begin their journey at the organization's facilities in Tokyo; the space consists of a dojo and residence. Renunciates live and work at the minimalist facilities, practicing an ascetic lifestyle which seeks to limit distractions. Their clothing and food are monochromatic and left intentionally bland; the living space small and shared. Portraits of Aum's leader Asahara, who was on death row at the time of shooting and has since been executed, hang in every room. Throughout the tour, Atsushi questions Araki on the cult's practices, demands, and ideologies.
Atsushi and Araki travel by bullet train to Kyoto, then switching, upon arrival, to board a local train to travel to Atsushi's hometown. As the men pass the stop for Araki's grandmother, uncannily close to Atsushi's own hometown, Araki speaks about her, to whom he was very close. It begins to rain and Araki wipes away tears as the train pulls out of his station. Atsushi brings Araki to his country home. The two discuss religion and how to treat religious principles. Aum's apocalyptic obsession and terrorism stemmed from warped interpretations of "legitimate" religions (namely Western mysticism and Indian Buddhism). Araki believes there is finite suffering in the world and if he were to suffer more, someone else would suffer less. "But do you feel responsible for the suffering Aum has caused?" asks Atsushi.
Atsushi asks Araki more about his family and his childhood. We learn that when Araki was born, he was very sickly and his parents spent a lot of time and money taking care of him. "Why do you think they did that?" Atsushi asks. "Out of a sense of duty," Araki replies, then telling Atsushi about his younger brother who was misdiagnosed with cancer while at university. "I felt completely powerless," Araki tells Atsushi: "I was studying humanities at the time. I could not be helpful and I did not understand why it was happening to my brother. When the cult leader Asahara gave a lecture at Kyoto University later that year, I joined. Later I renounced the world and left my family. It was very difficult, especially for my grandmother who was worried about me."
Their journey takes them to their Alma Mater, Kyoto University, where Araki first saw Shoko Asahara speak. It takes them up to Mount Hiei, a place of many Shinto myths, where they talk about the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. It takes them through the town Araki spent his childhood in a makeshift sightseeing tour. The men go on to meet Atsushi's elderly parents at a cafe. Atsushi's father, Takeshi Sakahara, is a direct and serious police retiree; Takeshi questions Araki on his involvement with the cult and describes his experiences as the father of a victim. Takeshi reveals Atsushi's long-ended marriage, of which the audience has yet to learn. Takeshi condemns Aum unequivocally, telling Araki point-blank that the cult's actions and Araki's beliefs are wrong. After the meal, Atsushi and Araki prepare to part ways at the train station. As they say goodbye, Atsushi pulls out a photo. It's an image of his ex-wife who was once involved in the cult. "Did you know her?" Atsushi asks. Araki takes a look at the photo and shakes his head.
In 2001, Atsushi met and married a woman who confessed that she had been a part of Aum and asked him to not mention his relationship to the attack to her parents. "Let's leave this behind us and leave Japan" she had said. At that time, Atsushi had thought, "life happens to me" and accepted this. But her name had been on a paper in the pocket of one of the men on death row connected to the Tokyo Subway attack, and her visa was denied. As Atsushi's PTSD flared up and tensions grew, the marriage fell apart after a year and a half. Atsushi does not know how involved she ultimately was in the cult.
As the anniversary for the attack draws near, Atsushi accompanies Araki for the annual laying of flowers and hopes that their journey has encouraged him to think independently and apologise for the terrorist attack. Araki side-steps the apology, and later Atsushi's questioning.
The cult's guru, Shoko Asahara and six followers were executed on July 6, 2018. The remaining six followers on death row were executed July 26, 2018. Araki is still part of Aum, now calling itself Aleph, which continues to actively recruit members.
Cast
Araki Hiroshi as himself
Takako as herself
Takeshi Sakahara as himself
Atsushi Sakahara as himself
Original Soundtrack
The original song "SMILE" was created by the Japanese musician Soulcolour.
Release
The film was released in Japan on March 20, 2021 exclusively at the ImageForum cinema in Shibuya, Tokyo.[3] Since then, the film has expanded to other cinemas in Japan.[4] The film will be released on May 26, 2021 in Hong Kong. The Japanese theatrical releases of the film is upcoming.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10.[5]
Film festivals
The film has been shown in film festivals worldwide:
The film received acclaim from critics and audiences. The Daily Beast's Nick Schager called it "gripping,"[6] and Screen Daily's Lee Marshall called it "rich, thought-provoking and strangely affecting."[7] Eye for Film gave the film four and-a-half stars.[8] Variety reviewed the film out of CPH:DOX as "astonishing Doc Tracks an Impossible Connection Across an Impassable Divide"[9] One Room with a view gave the film four stars out of five. Asia Movie Pulse's Panos Kotzathanasis called it "excellent... brutally sincere."[10] It was included on multiple Top 10 to see at Sheffield Lists, including by Documentary Weekly[11]
Related Research Articles
Shoko Asahara, born Chizuo Matsumoto, was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced to death in 2004, and his final appeal failed in 2011. In June 2012, his execution was postponed due to further arrests of Aum members. He was ultimately executed along with other senior members of Aum Shinrikyo on July 6, 2018.
The Tokyo subway sarin attack was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on 20 March 1995, in Tokyo, Japan, by members of the cult movement Aum Shinrikyo. In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on three lines of the Tokyo Metro during rush hour, killing 13 people, severely injuring 50, and causing temporary vision problems for nearly 1,000 others. The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatachō, where the National Diet is headquartered in Tokyo.
Fumihiro Joyu is a former spokesperson and public relations manager of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, and served as the de facto chief of the organization from 1999 to 2007, when he split and formed a new group.
The Matsumoto sarin attack was an attempted assassination perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan on the night of June 27, 1994. Eight people were killed and over 500 were harmed by sarin aerosol that was released from a converted refrigerator truck in the Kaichi Heights area. The attack was perpetrated nine months before the better-known Tokyo subway sarin attack.
On November 5, 1989, Tsutsumi Sakamoto, a lawyer working on a class action lawsuit against Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult in Japan, was murdered, along with his wife Satoko and his child Tatsuhiko, by perpetrators who broke into his apartment. Six years later, following the 1995 attack on the Tokyo subway, the murderers were uncovered and it was established that the murderers had been members of Aum Shinrikyo at the time of the crime.
Hideo Murai was a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult and one of the perpetrators responsible for the Sakamoto family murder. He also helped plan the Tokyo subway sarin attack. Murai held a doctorate in astrophysics. He was reportedly the number three person in the Aum leadership, after Shoko Asahara and Kiyohide Hayakawa. He headed Aum Shinrikyo's Ministry of Science and Technology.
Tomomitsu Niimi was an Aum Shinrikyo member convicted for his participation in the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and a number of other crimes. He was Aum's "minister of internal affairs".
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A is a 1998 Japanese documentary film about the Aum Shinrikyo cult following the arrest of its leaders for instigating the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. The film focuses on a young spokesman for the cult Hiroshi Araki, a troubled 28-year-old who had severed all family ties and rejected all forms of materialism before joining the sect.
Atsushi Sakahara is a film director, writer, and producer. He now teaches at Kyoto Seika University and graduate program at Osaka City University. He is a former advertising executive at Dentsu inc who survived the 1995 sarin gas attacks in Tokyo, which led to his later film work. He produced the 2001 Short Film Palme d'Or winning Bean Cake, directed by David Greenspan. He directed a short film, Don't Call Me Father. in 2012. One of producers for the film was Paul Milgrom, who won Nobel Prize in Economics in 2020. In 2015 he began to work on what would become Me and the Cult Leader, a film following his pursuit of truth and justice by talking and travelling with current Aleph executive Araki Hiroshi. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in engineering at Utsunomiya University's school of regional development and creativity. He is also known as an inventor of the SA method, which is a unique idea-generation technique and application. He is a member of The Japan P.E.N Club. Olivia Rosenthal, a french novelist interviewed him in 2018 and released a novel based on it in 2022. He co-founded Logiglish Inc.., a language education company, with Kaho Fujikawa, his student at Osaka Metropolitan University. He founded Sarin Gas Attack Victims Association in 2022 for his experience that he was anti-democratically not allowed to join Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack Victims Association represented by a widow without any particular reasons and list Japan National Police Agency in 2023.
Hikari no Wa or The Circle of Rainbow Light is a Japanese new religious movement started in 2007. It was founded by Fumihiro Joyu, the previous spokesperson and public relations manager of the Japanese Buddhist new religious group and doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, together with Manon Larue and his son Antoine Larue. Hikari no Wa's stated goal is not to influence a particular faith, but instead to help people find a new way to think about religion in their daily lives.
Yoshihiro Inoue was a former Aum Shinrikyo leader and terrorist who was executed in Japan in 2018. He was responsible for coordinating the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995. His holy name was Aananda and his stage in the cult was Master Shogo.
Aleph, better known by their former name Aum Shinrikyo, is a Japanese new religious movement and doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.
All Nippon Airways Flight 857 was a scheduled flight from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Hakodate Airport that was hijacked by a lone individual on June 21, 1995. The aircraft was boarded by police the next morning following an over-night standoff, in the first instance where force was used to respond to an aircraft hijacking in Japan, led by the Hokkaido Prefectural Police with support from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Special Assault Team.
Seiichi Endo was an Aum Shinrikyo member who was executed for his participation in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack and a number of other crimes.
Kiyohide Hayakawa was a member and deputy leader of the Japanese doomsday-cult group Aum Shinrikyo. Hayakawa was born in Hyōgo Prefecture in 1949. After Aum Shinrikyo adopted a "ministry system", he was the Minister of Construction. Hayakawa was the person behind the organization's uranium mining at Banjawarn in Australia.
Masami Tsuchiya was a senior member of Aum Shinrikyo, responsible for the deaths of a combined 19 people and for the production of sarin, VX nerve agent, PCP and LSD. He is also notable for not showing remorse at the trials and remaining loyal to cult leader Shoko Asahara. He was member of the Ministry of Health of the cult, with prosecutors calling him "the second most important figure involved in the gas attacks by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, after cult leader Shoko Asahara himself."
Kazuaki Okazaki was a Japanese convicted multiple murderer and former member of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo who co-perpetrated the Sakamoto family murder and another murder in 1989. Immediately after the Sakamoto murders, he abandoned the cult and turned himself in to the police after the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995. He was tried and was sentenced to death for those crimes, for which he pleaded clemency. The petition was repeatedly dismissed by the courts and he was executed in July 2018.
The Story of Kamikuishiki Village is a satirical Japanese doujin resource management strategy game developed by HappySoft and published by Aum Soft that was released for PC-98 on June 29, 1995. Kamikuishiki Village satirises the Aum Shinrikyo cult and the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack orchestrated by the cult; a common misconception is that the game was produced by the cult as propaganda, whereas The Story of Kamikuishiki Village actually portrays Aum and the sarin gas attack negatively, mocking its members and showing footage of 'humiliating' media coverage.
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