7. The Matsumoto Incident
In 1995, apocalyptic cult Aum Shinrikyo released a cloud of sarin into the Tokyo subway system. Thirteen people died, and over 5,500 were injured. Although this incident is well known in the West, few are aware that this wasn’t Aum Shinrikyo’s first sarin attack. The year before, they tested their new weapon in the picturesque mountain town of Matsumoto. Their dry run would wind up injuring nearly 500 people.
At the time, the cult possessed enough sarin to kill over four million. They also counted chemical and virology experts among their members, who helped them modify a van into a mobile chemical weapons unit. At 10:40 PM on June 27, 1994, they drove their laboratory into a residential neighborhood, where a group of judges who had ruled against the group lived. Then they sprayed a thick cloud of the gas out into the streets, before vanishing into the night.
Aside from killing seven people, the attack caused victims to fall under suspicion. Yoshiyuki Kouno was badly injured by the sarin and had to watch as his wife slowly succumbed over the next decade to complications, making her the eighth victim. Yet the media painted him as the culprit, thanks to his previous experience working for a chemical company. Kouno later called his trial by media “psychologically devastating.” The police who assured the media of his guilt never apologized.
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