Aum Shinrikyo

Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the

All of that were part of the human experiments that were done by the Unit 731 members. As Staub explained, a person will advance the good of the in-group at the expense of the out-group. Just like how the members of the Nazi party believed that it is their duty to kill Jews, Unit 731 members believed that it is their duty as a Japanese citizen to help out the country even if it means that it will cause the deaths of other. To many people, what they did during their human experiments was horrifying and morally wrong, but to the members there, they believe that their actions are morally right because they were merely trying to aid their country by attempting to create and research new weapons.

The young warriors were taught to sacrifice everything for the emperor or lord. In Japan, the emperor represented the laws and the state and was considered divine. Loyalty was an ethical demand stemming from this political theory. A samurai was obligated to appeal to the wisdom of his lord by committing seppuku.

Over the span of a few decades, the Japanese and Americans were as is, heading towards war due to a varying amount of disputing between the two. In the 1930’s, Japan invaded China. This caused an uproar between the two countries at the time. This was one of the first few sparks to the flame. In order to create the perfect Yamato race, the Japanese felt that there was more validity if there were no one to stop them, (Document A). Destroying the Pacific fleet was the goal so they could expand and imperialize the world around them. America, being one of their main oil producers, made them the perfect target. Leading up to the attack, America placed an embargo on Japan, (Document C). Japan wanted to destroy the Pacific Fleet to gain oil and continue imperialization to obtain the perfect Yamato

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

Japan was a very nationalistic country in which the purpose of the civilians was to fight until death for their emperor. This was evident in the fact that they had practiced an extremely nationalistic concept of Bushido. This concept made surrender unacceptable for all Japanese people and they lived to die for the emperor. There nationalism was fueled by the fact that they won 2 large battles (Sino Japanese War and Russo Japanese war) against larger countries. Along with this, the Japanese also had Kamikaze pilots who suicide by deliberately crashing planes into American warship as a tactic of fighting. This extreme nationalism shows that they could not be fought with regular weapons and so posed a threat for the whole world.

The retaliation of the Japanese had the world concerned by the oppression of military actions and to reveal power during the modern era (1900’s). The strategy of the Japanese

This explains that the Samurai devoted his life to his lord and served him whole-heartedly. This also shows that he had respect for all people superior than him.

In the 1940’s, tension between Japan and America was dramatically increasing.Japan had recently declared that there was to be a new order, and that they were the new world power. The United States did not like Japan’s motives and cut Japan off from their main source of trade and supplies. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor because America put restrictions on trade, America was becoming too strong, and Japan wanted to be the at the top of the world power.

The Japanese culture has been greatly influenced by its religions, and one of the most influential religions has been Shintoism. Shintoism has been dated back to 500BC, when the descendants of the sun goddess, Amaterasu-OmiKami, worshiped the gods and goddesses of Japan. Shinto means "way of the gods" and that represents what people who practice Shintoism believe in. Shintoism is a religion based on Japanese mythology, which is centered on a male god, Izanagi, and a female goddess, Izanami. These two gods were believed to have created Japan, which was thought to be the only land in the whole word. The two gods had two children, the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the storm god, Susanowo. These two gods fought over control of the people of

The 1995 gas attack in the Tokyo subway system stands as one of the most prominent terrorist chemical attacks against civilians to date. Though the Japanese government was warned of the impending violence nine months prior, they were caught ill prepared when it unfolded (Wright & Martin, 2008). The group known as Aum Shinrikyo was responsible for the subway attack and this was not the first time they used sarin gas. The city of Matsumoto was the test bed that served as the proving ground for the events that took place in Tokyo (Wright & Martin, 2008).

The harbinger of Death was finally at the command of humankind. The arguably darkest days of armed conflict, characterized by the brightest of lights, was a result of unlocking the power of the atom. In an instant and a flash, at the Trinity test site, the nuclear age was born. The United States Army had its bomb, but the bomb was just the beginning. The United States Army Air Forces realized not only the tactical advantage of wielding such power, but the most effective means of exercising that power. The inception of the 509th Composite Group, 1st Atomic Bombardment coupled with the advent of the B-29 Superfortress offered the United States the means to devastate Japan, destroy their will to fight, and ultimately silence the Japanese

Since Japan's earliest days, Shinto has been the code of honor and action for the Japanese. It is also a polytheistic religion, they believe there is a God for everything.(brittanica)

Tanimoto, a simple man with a kind heart, was deeply affected by the Hiroshima tragedy. He felt an obligation to do more to prevent mass destruction. This feeling lead him to met a group who would be known as the Hiroshima Maidens. Resorting to America after being turned down by the Japanese, Tanimoto toured the United States to raise money for those affected in Hiroshima with the help of Cousins. To his surprise, Tanimoto was accused of doing it all for the publicity. This accusation hit close to home because not only Americans, but even some Japanese people believed Tanimoto did it for the fame. When his past is taken into account, one would think Tanimoto had good intentions by helping victims of the atomic bomb, but Cousins and others took advantage of Tanimotos sincerity by twisting his story into a commercialized show.

The Aum Supreme Truth, an Armageddonist cult in Japan, is an example of a group that used a chemical agent to give the illusion that the world was nearing the end. The purpose for the use of sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system was to fulfill the prophecy of the cult leader Shoko Asahara.