The Tokyo Subway Attack

downtown Tokyo March 20th 1995 two men are driving to the subway station R hour is about to start they make a pit stop at a convenience store the driver buys two newspapers the passenger gloves a knife tape and sandals the passenger is dropped off in front of the station his train is arriving shortly he boards the front carriage and after three stops he takes a package out of his bag and drops it onto the floor it's wrapped in newspapers from the convenience store he takes the sharpen tip of his umbrella and drives it into the package a few more holes for good measure the driver is waiting for him outside he makes sure that any liquid left by the package is gone the liquid the man just released on the Tokyo subway is over 900 mL of sarin one of the deadliest nerve agents on the planet on March 20th 1995 at the height of morning Rush Hour Tokyo was attacked Emergency Services overwhelmed hundreds of calls flood in people are dying in the Tokyo subway the man iuo Hayashi was one of five five people who released almost 5 lers of liquid sarin in the cramped and poorly ventilated compartments of three Subway Lines chiota ibia and maruno three lines that converge at a single point the heart of Tokyo's government it was an attack ordered by a blind paranoid man but it was a man with a billion dollars an arsenal of deadly chemical weapons and hundreds of loyal followers willing to use them he brainwashed thousands with a perverse system of spiritual superiority with a final goal to save the world by ending it this is the story of the Tokyo subway gas attack this video was made possible by 80,000 hours and the research was done by Robert J lton Ian reer aruki murakami and countless [Music] others chitsu Matsumoto was born to a family of tatami mat makers he couldn't see through one eye but had some Vision left in the other as a child he was sent to a special school there he used the eye that he had left to control his fully blank classmates he forced them to strike each other helped some go into town on the condition of money and favors teachers said he was tender to some brutal towards others 20 years later he graduated and became a Mur and acupuncturist 3 years later he met his wife with the help of her parents he opened up a store that sold Chinese herbal medicine discovering a talent for selling snake oil he made hundreds of thousands off of fake drugs and Potions but Matsumoto was more talented at selling than hiding he's caught and served a jail sentence going bankrupt and experiencing profound shame he grew resentful of the state that took from him in his darkest hour he meditated practiced yoga read Eastern philosophy and studied he embraced Buddhist concepts of karma Redemption and rebirth and built his own interpretation with new found confidence he starts a new business a yoga school and Publishing Company Matsumoto becomes a guru determined to fix the mistakes he made earlier he combines his skills for marketing with spirituality a photo of him levitating appears in a magazine photos of him getting endorsed by spiritual leaders he does interviews and tells the world that he wanted the Japanese Countryside when a deity appeared before him it told him he was the God of Light who will lead the armies of all the gods to usher in the Holy Kingdom of Shambala through a final war that will end all Darkness TV appearances radio shows magazine interviews deceptive photos and articles are paying off he leaves behind his old self no longer chitsu Matsumoto a failed salesman the boy raised by tatami mapmakers now shoko asahara a guru with a father following the name of his cult omin Rio Supreme truth but his cult is not like others he's surrounded by brilliant scientists chemists physicists Japanese from Elite universities and families asahara had a goal a goal that needed talent talent that would help him build a new Japanese civilization after Armageddon with him at its Center [Music] in his own mind and that of his followers he was a God the closer you were to him the higher your rank to move up he created tests he filtered members for their devotion and talent and began targeting the young and educated holding talks at top universities asahara crafted a message that Blended spirituality with science he offered outfitted research Labs alongside Enlightenment he marketed himself to those who felt alienated from Japanese Society sexual advertisements to Target lonely young men flirtatious women on the answering machine most ignored his advances but some did attend his talks these were Sam minay one foot in oh the other is still in Japanese Society the lowest of his hierarchy once a novice The Next Step was a loyal member a s only a Sam could truly join the Master they could unlock supernatural abilities like asahara levitation telepathy and mind reading but they had to cut off their lives as s had to renounce their family property money work and even their names they had to give it all to om Shin Rio during their initiation they participated in Mass prayer ceremonies they were given high doses of LSD and were locked in small rooms for weeks SAS were forced into celibacy they were forbidden to love or to ejaculate for young men who joined a religious death cult the former significantly easier than the latter they endured exhausting breathing exercises long hours of meditation and were sometimes expected to rise and kneel 100,000 times in a row on top of this schedule each member was given heavy unpaid labor it was normal for them to only get three hours of sleep a night this was required for asahara to co his stock the line between punishment and training was blurred by Design long exposure to scalding hot and freezing cold water hanging upside down for hours SAS were told this was training the only way to rid themselves of bad karma karma is a core belief in Buddhist tradition good actions bring good results bad actions bring suffering traditionally weaponized by white girls with dreadlocks who call their exes narcissists asahara used it differently according to him it could be removed through physical means like aeis and self- torture if they worked hard enough they could also remove it from others by the late ' 80s his operation had matured his goals shifted from acquiring followers to using them he tells them of his Shambala plan their movement would spread and transform the world into a utopian Paradise he launches a new headquarters near Mount Fuji they start acquiring rural plots of land to build Lotus Villages these were isolated communities of omers that were models for their new civilization the beginning of his state within a state he knew the power of vision well so he hid his followers from the outside in September 1988 a s is hung upside down at the Mount Fuji Center he had been showing signs of mental illness during the Colts rituals they immersed him in ice cold water to calm him down he dies that wasn't supposed to happen aahar and Company are worried this could ruin their entire operation they tell no one and they burn his body and hide his ashes by dropping them in a lake first crisis averted but now they had a new problem the men's friend shuji taguchi saw what happened and threatened to leave and sniff [Music] that wasn't supposed to happen as asahara's fear isolation and power grew so did his interpretation of karma everyone outside of om was infected with Bad Karma if they died they would suffer in the afterlife his members however were spiritually Superior equipped with the ability to take on their karma they had a duty to elevate people's Souls a spiritually Superior person could cleanse them of their Bad Karma by killing [Music] them on the orders of asahara the had tooa shuji taguchi he was strangled by five members in a small tatami cell asahara's first real kill his cult was no longer a small yoga studio asahara had given them a spiritual right to m if he organized them properly he could do even more but the larger it grew the more attention it drew people were starting to take notice of the strange cult with colorful robes Tatsumi Sakamoto is an anti-cult lawyer he knows om se's assets and holds members against their will one day he decides to do something about it months after first POA he records an interview he tells the Tokyo broadcasting system of the Colts predatory tactics to not cause offense the TBS show senior figures in oh the interview out of fear to make sure they wouldn't get sued a few days later a few men walk up to an apartment complex in the suburbs of Yokohama at around 3:00 a. m. armed with hammers hypmic needles and potassium chloride the men enter the Sakamoto residence through an unlocked door they find Sakamoto and his family sleeping they hit susumi in the head with a hammer he's injected with potassium chloride and strangled at the same time his wife is also injected beaten and strangled to death the men proceed to murder their son they remove all three bodies from the apartment just another compassionate Act of Salvation asahara explained asahara had killed twice without consequences his vision expanded he saw the absolute loyalty of his followers there was no limit to what he could make them do anyone opposing the group was labeled as evil and marched for elimination soon that meant the entire world similar to the Nazis during World War II om viewed Society outside as filled with inferior people who did not deserve to belong to the new world they were creating spiritual superiority replaced racial superiority oh members became Gatekeepers of life and death with the ego that only a very serious meditator has asahara truly believed he was the second coming of Christ Shiva and other deities but proving he was God brought problems he made world ending predictions Tokyo and Japan would sink a World War would erupt between the USA and Russia in 1999 nuclear war in 2003 he needed these Visions to seem larger than life but they also had to come true if they didn't it could show his followers that their Emperor wore no clothes but asahara specifically crafted his organization to make his Visions real om was divided into Ministries and agencies each run by a high ranking member chosen for their expertise and dedication these were the upper ranks his inner circle isako ishi built a war chest an office worker in her former life she showed exceptional administrative skill she helped om amass $1 billion in assets asahara's bathwater cost $1,000 his blood 10,000 nothing was off limits when followers became SAS their assets were seized including valuables co-owned by family members they took advantage of their followers cheap labor to launch new businesses fitness clubs real estate dealings restaurants and even babysitting and dating services they undercut the Japanese computer Market by assembling and selling computers for cheap eventually they went International a Tea Plantation in Sri Lanka a sheep farm in Australia they used shell companies to purchase a variety of high-tech equipment chemicals and pharmaceuticals eventually used in the manufacturer of drugs and weapons under the leadership of isi om assembled the necessary Capital now they needed to make sure they could keep the operation running smoothly without problems iuo Hayashi was a member of the Japanese Super Elite he attended one of Tokyo's top private universities he later became the head of a medical department at a hospital with the help of 10 resident doctors he set up the astral Hospital Institute to keep the cult membership in check here they detained tortured blackmailed and killed members and their families om doctors conducted spy checks injecting suspects with true serum drugs and interrogating them Hayashi introduced new Narco treatments combining these drugs with electroshock therapy to try and erase members memories they remov fingerprints and and changed facial features to disguise their crimes anything to protect asahara's plans for Armageddon overseeing high-tech weapons was AO marai he graduated from Osaka University with a degree in physics he studied the X-ray emissions of celestial bodies Mari worked closely with asahara who ordered him to make devices that could prove he was enlightened Nicola Tesla's earthquake machine a plasma weapon that would vaporize only humans and leave infrastructure intact so om could inhabit the empty buildings after the World's End these experiments LED nowhere asahara needed something his fear of losing kept growing he forced Detention of members who tried to leave kidnapped those who did he played tapes to members where he showed Wars all over the world discussed weapons of mass destruction and preached that they were under attack from the US the CIA the Japanese government Freemasons the emperor and the Crown Princess he had to do whatever he could to maintain control but his Visions to prove he was a god weren't coming true until they did in 1995 he assigned a member to predict natural disasters by making astrological calculations on live radio the man gave a semi-educated guas an earthquake would happen around coob 9 days later over 5,000 people lost their lives in a devastating coob earthquake for his followers this was indisputable evidence that asahara could see the future Armageddon was coming members were afraid for their lives while he gained time time to get his followers to fight in his final war for Shambala to cleanse the world of its Bad Karma saving it by ending it he turned away from fantasy weapons to proven ones the Ministry of Health and Welfare was responsible for biological and chemical weapons at 's Main laboratory around 100 scientists work with equipment costing upwards of $30 million sichi Endo dropped out of his graduate program in virology at the kyota University Medical School to join M Masami tosia was a graduate student in organic physical chemistry at one of Japan's leading universities a part-time prep school teacher before joining they were handpicked by asahara to find his weapons bashel linam toxin is made by bacteria under low oxygen it's among the deadliest known substances Endo started by harvesting it from soil samples then he built large cubic fermenters to produce batches approximately 50 they drove through Central Tokyo and Nita airport the largest in Japan spraying devices were mounted inside it would be a mass Terror attempt that would topple the government the van sprayed the toxin into the air but nothing happened the release was a failure spraying it was more difficult than manufacturing but Endo was determined so he tried again this time the Imperial Palace during a royal wedding of the Crown Prince it would be a mass Terror attempt that would topple the government the van sprayed the toxin into the air but nothing happened botulism botched again the third times the charm and a must have thought maybe so one more attempt was [Music] made three briefcases equipped with sprayers were placed near the ticket barriers wandering passengers workers Tokyo's government Elites would be unknowing targets and nothing happened but Endo didn't stop there Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that live in soil animals become infected while grazing humans can get infected by Cuts in the skin breathing it in or eating contaminated meat inhalation is the most dangerous the most relevant for weapons without treatment it's fatal Endo probably got a harmless strain from a friend still in school some believe he tried to create a lethal one by combining two harmless ones he moved it to mass production ever cautious they tested on the roof of their headquarters and this time they succeeded sort of they made the street smell bad and killed a few birds and pets but something had [Music] worked they turned the anthrax into powder and drove it through Central Tokyo it would be a mass Terror attempt that would topple the government the van sprayed the toxin into the air but nothing happened 's biological weapon attempts were almost comical if they weren't so disturbing asahara even sent doctors to Central Africa to bring back Ebola that failed attempts at chalera and Q fever also fell short despite this om had other weapons they could still use Masami toia LED their chemical weapons program they made tabun gas mustard gas Som hydrogen cyanide and fosen they killed 20 dissidents by scorting them with thex they tried to kill a journalist a friend of the lawyer tsumi Sakamoto with fosin gas she escaped injured multiple hydrogen cyanide attacks were attempted but failed despite their investment the chemical weapons were rarely used at scale there was only one weapon they used that was different a weapon that in asahara's mind had no equals sarin is colorless and orderless exposure causes symptoms in seconds larger doses death in minutes asahara was obsessed he channeled all of 's infrastructure into its production they first used sarin on a small herd of sheep on their Australian Ranch and it was a success they moved on to human trials two o members pull into a parking lot 37 M away from a three-story apartment inside are three lawyers they were fighting m in a real estate dispute and winning the men switch on the machine waiting for it to heat up and vaporize the 30 L of liquid sarin tubing directs the gas to fans on its side for 20 minutes it flows into the [Music] air but a slight breeze shifts it away from the lawyers and towards neighboring homes sarin enters through open Windows and is pulled into Apartments via AC the next morning three people are dead two more dilator in the hospital not one was one of the lawyers sarin had worked now it was time to scale it asahara ordered tosia to produce 70 tons of sarin if everything went according to plan they would release the gas over Tokyo if everything went according to plan there was a spill at their laboratory this led to reports of a foul smelling odor near their headquarters police gathered soil samples they identified two compounds linked directly to the production of sarin a newspaper reported it was suspiciously close to where om Shin Rio had a commune the higher ranks panicked they ordered the destruction of their illegal chemicals including all their sarin stores within a month om built a wall inside the building hiding the lab equipment and decorating the room to look like a prayer Hall the police didn't make a move despite Panic inside the organization it still seemed like they could get away with anything but then they made another mistake cult members abducted a man whose sister had fled the group om wanted her back because she was wealthy but her brother would not reveal her location kept barely conscious he was drugged and imprisoned he died of an overdose but his abduction was witnessed a bystander reported the van's license plate and the police traced it to a member combined with the sarin soil samples this was the final straw the police planned a raid on the M headquarters [Music] but asahara knew police informants leaked him the information about the incoming raid so he told marai to divert it he ordered an attack on the Tokyo subway in 2 days marai had little time and no sarin so he Enlisted the help of Hayashi endo and nakagawa in 36 hours he managed to produce over 10 lers a spraying device was too unpredictable this time they keep it simple plastic bags and sharpened umbrellas the Tokyo subway is the busiest in the world it moves almost half the world's population every year 3.

9 billion people the Metro spends 286 stations on 13 lines despite the city's sprawling layout it's known for its efficient design 22% of all of Tokyo's residents use it every day at 3:00 a. m. on the day of the attack the team rehearsed with water Hayashi then gave them all a hypmic needle with atropine sulfate a sarin antidote before rush hour five cars set out to five different subway stations a kuo Hayashi boards the South westbound chiota line departing from Sagi subway station he continues his journey for three stops puncturing his bag of sarin just before reaching his last station he exits the train which continues to Kasumi gaki none of the passengers notice a thing 26-year-old kiyoka isumi takes a deep breath as the air fills her lungs it suddenly freezes in her chest pain spreads through her and she doesn't know why she feels like she's been shot as the train approaches Kuma gaki station she starts to violently cough everyone around her too [Music] applied physicist toru Toyota boarded the first Carriage of the north eastbound hiia line he continued his journey for only one stop puncturing his bag before leaving at a bitsu station all 900 mL of sarin leaked out the passengers evacuated The Carriage three stops later the train continued with an empty front Carriage until kasuma gasak station where it was taken out of service masado yokoyama boarded the fifth Carriage of the magoi Line train to kabukuru when he had approached his last station he poked his packets of sarin but only one was punctured he cleaned the umbrella in the bathroom and got into his driver's car since the package was mostly intact sarin was released very slowly it was only when it reached the end of the line and returned that the package was discovered the car was quickly wiped down but it continued and completed another full Journey he was finally taken out of service 1 hour and 40 minutes after yokoyama had punctured his package on the other end of the hiia line asuo Hayashi boarded the South westbound train to prove his Devotion to asahara he had volunteered to take an extra package of sarin the packages immediately began to smell causing passengers to feel ill as soon as they reached the following stop a man kicked the package onto the platform a Kota Macho station the small area quickly filled with the gas the train kept going with a puddle of sarin on the floor an overwhelmed passenger pressed the emergency button but the train was in a tunnel and had to continue until the next stop it finally stopped at sujii station where five passengers collapsed on the [Music] platform Kenichi Hil boarded the westbound marinoi line at iabuk station he punctured the packets of sarin and exited the train all 900 mL of sarin were released two p passengers collapsed by the time the train reached Nano Sak station they were evacuated and a station attendant removed the package the train continued until the end of the line new passengers boarded the train at ogi Kubo station at 8:38 a.

m. it continued in the opposite direction until two stops later it was taken out of service 's attack killed 13 people and injured more than 6,000 when it was determined that sarin was the cause om was connected within [Music] hours on March 22nd the police raided the OM headquarters and other Lotus Villages they discovered the infrastructure meant to produce chemical weapons hideo muray The Mastermind behind the attack was murdered by Yakuza in public asahara was arrested in late spring hiding in a hidden room covered in his own piss he and 12 other o members were given the death penalty they were executed in 2018 while the attack was terrible it could have been even worse tuia produced sarin at over 70% Purity for Matsumoto that level was deadly enough to float into a neighboring house and still kill three people under the pressure of time Endo had made a batch half as pure for the subway attack because of the accidental spill in the previous year he didn't have access to all the chemicals needed for production if he did the result could have been far different om was given official religious status by the Japanese police it got tax breaks immunity from prosecution and made it difficult taboo for police to investigate risk avoiding police and a paranoid man who knew how to hide after his first business failed it wasn't a coincidence that he moved members far away from civilization and described what they did with vague spiritual nonsense a yoga studio that brought lonely people together peer pressure and isolation manipulated what was acceptable then asahara slowly kept turning up the temperature he purposely hunted individuals good at solving problems and he gave them problems to solve that were [Music] terrible all around us are systems whose goals are not aligned with human well-being albeit at different scales YouTubers that engineer misleading anger inducing titles to maximize clicks factory farms AI weapon systems that evolve daily many don't know that better options exist to the detriment of us all there are many ways to do good and they're not Downstream from a single man convinced of his own superiority someone close to me is quite talented with numbers in another world they could have helped a soulless Corporation codes a map scouted from a top level University contributing their mathematical talent to help some annoying executive increase his margins what if it didn't need to be this way protecting against chemical weapons not building them guarding life instead of ending it my friend no longer programs a self-help app they now spend their time working on AI safety 80,000 hours helped them transition into a job that was meaningful they were given advice support a network and help with choosing a career that does good as the time ticks stop before it's too late take a pause breathe and think is this my place moving a branding ass at two pixels to the left for a company's newsletter that no one reads or help children with malaria fiddling around in spreadsheets every day to boost yogurt sales or reduce the suffering of animals just as capable of pain programming a trust F baby's crypto app or linning AI changing slides on a presentation because a client just wants to see it differently one more time or clean the air we breathe the clock is ticking but the choice is yours do you decide to click on 80,000 hour.