TOKYO (AP)--Membership of the doomsday cult behind the 1995 deadly gas attack on the Tokyo subways is growing steadily, as it reasserts its influence through the Internet, the Japanese government said Friday.
Membership of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult has grown by about 150, or 10%, with around 1,650 followers by the end of last year, the Justice Ministry said in a report submitted to the Cabinet. About 650 of them are carrying out cult activities at group homes and facilities, the ministry said.
The group was responsible for the sarin gas attack on March 20, 1995, which killed 12 people and affected thousands. The incident shook the people's sense of security in Japan, which had enjoyed a relatively low crime rate.
The report said that on the surface the group had changed its name, acknowledged its responsibility for the subway gassing, and apologized. But fundamentally, it remains the same, the report said.
"The group's dangerous nature has not changed even though no poisonous substances or ingredients have been found at their facilities," the report said. "Its deceptive nature is unchanged."
Investigators at the Public Safety Agency have found 29 Aum facilities and 200 apartment houses in 10 on-site inspections, the report said.
It said the cult, which now calls itself Aleph, is expanding its computer-related business and raking in profits from its 13 companies.
Under influential leader Fumihiro Joyu's "cyber cult" plan, the group continues spreading its "dangerous" teachings on the Net, the report said.
Joyu, jailed guru Shoko Asahara's most-trusted aide, was released from prison in December 1999 and is considered the cult's de facto leader.
The cult also earns funds by charging excessive fees through the sale of books and compact discs containing Asahara's teachings and seminars.
The group is moving to expand its operations overseas as well, said the report, which did not specify where.
By law the cult is under Public Safety Agency surveillance. The Justice Ministry is responsible for publishing the cult's activities in an annual report. The latest update covers the period between May 16 and December 31, 2000.
Judges have handed down death sentences to several former leaders involved in the gas attack and other killings. Guru Shoko Asahara is still on trial for masterminding the 1995 gassing and 16 other charges.