Today (2014 January 17th) is the nineteenth anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake which struck Kobe, Japan on 1995 January 17th.
I wrote a post about it five years ago.
It was the first of two major earthquakes that have struck Japan since I’ve been here … hopefully there won’t be another!
Today is the fifteenth year anniversary of the worst domestic terrorist attack in Japanese history…the 「地下鉄サリン事件」 (“Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack“)
On 1995 March 20, the religious cult 「オウム真理教」 (“Aum Shinrikyo“), led by the bizarre 麻原 彰晃 (Asahara Shoko), released a toxic gas called Sarin on five subways simultaneously.
Their intentions were to overtake the government of Japan and start a “new world order”.
Their attack killed twelve people and injured thousands, fifty people seriously.
The members of the cult who carried out the attack and their leader Asahara were put on Japan’s most wanted list. The posters were all over Japan.
A few of them were captured, including Asahara, and given death sentences. Asahara is currently on death row.
Also the government removed the Aum Shinrikyo group’s “religious group” status.
Soon afterwards, the Aum Shinrikyo cult changed their name to “Aleph and tried to distance themselves from the attack and gain a positive public image.
Even with the name change and new leadership, most people in Japan still distrust them and the government still hasn’t reinstated their “religious status”.
Most Japanese people, by the way, aren’t religious at all. So it’s very uncommon for people to join a religion…especially one as bizarre as “Aum Shinrikyo” (“Aleph”).
Three people who helped carry out the 「地下鉄サリン事件」 (“Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack“) are still fugitives on the run.
Their faces can be seen on “Wanted” posters around Japan. (If you see one of them, call the police. They have a 200万円 (¥2,000,000 (about US$20,000)) bounties on their heads.)
Fourteen years ago today, on Tuesday, January 17, 1995 at 午前５時４６分 (5:46AM JST), the 阪神淡路大震災 (Kobe Earthquake) struck the Western Japan city of 兵庫県神戸市 (Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan).
It registered as a 震度７ (Level 7 on the Japanese Shindo scale*). I hope I never experience a major earthquake like that! (The small earthquakes are bad enough).
(* Japan uses the 震度 (Shindo earthquake scale) (震度７ (Level 7) is the highest) rather than the Richter Scale).
Tokyo Five 
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