Martin Repp: Aum Shinrikyo. Ein Kapitel krimineller Religionsgeschichte

Abstract

This important work is a well considered and reliable account of the Japanese religion Aum Shinrikyo, leading members of which, including the founder, have recently been accused of very serious crimes. These crimes include a series of individual murders and two mass terrorist attacks with the use of sarin gas, in Matsumoto and in Toyko, which led to several deaths and numerous severe injuries. The author, Martin Repp, is the associate director of the NCC (National Christian Council) Center for the Study of Japanese Religions, and, being based in Kyoto, Japan, has been able to follow the relevant events very closely in the media. In this review attention will be drawn to just a few salient points, but in whatever way the discussion continues on these, the book itself is an important resource, and one of the earliest documentations of Aum written with academic care.