Aum Shinri-kyo Updates (CESNUR) - January 18-23, 2000

TOKYO, Jan. 23 -- By changing its name and denouncing its spiritual leader last week, the religious sect that killed 12 people in a nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subways in 1995 tried to convince Japanese society that it was no longer a threat.
But the name change from Aum Shinrikyo to Aleph, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and signifies renewal for many Japanese, appears to have raised more fears than it calmed.
In fact, since Aum announced the name shift on Tuesday, Japanese businesses and organizations that use the name Aleph have been flooded with telephone calls from people concerned that they were associated with the sect.
Many Internet sites of businesses and groups that use the name Aleph have received so many hits in recent days that they have been forced to shut down or post messages on their home pages disclaiming any affiliation with Aum. Some companies are considering abandoning the name Aleph altogether.
At an Osaka-based cram school called Aleph, which prepares students for medical school exams, the phones have been ringing off the hook. Anxious students and their parents have expressed fears that attending a preparatory school with the same name as the sect will hurt their chances for admission.
"People are hysterical because we are right in the middle of exam period, and they have already submitted applications to university medical faculties that have the name of Aleph as their prep school," said Takeshisa Ueda, the school's director.
When the school opened in 1990, officials chose the name Aleph because they thought it would distinguish the school from others, Mr. Ueda said. But now officials are worried that they will have trouble attracting new students.
Such widespread concern over being linked to the sect, if only by name, underscores the deep-seated fear of Aum Shinrikyo in Japan, despite strict new laws and growing vigilantism that have crippled the sect's activities.
Law enforcement officials said that assumptions by Japanese that businesses and groups with the name Aleph were linked to the sect were not unjustified because Aum Shinrikyo operates publishing, computer and electronic equipment businesses under names that few recognize.
Indeed, since 1996, Aleph has been the name of an Aum Shinrikyo company that manages the group's donations and seminars and conducts business in computer parts, delivery services, warehousing and travel.
No one knows exactly how many businesses and groups in Japan use the name Aleph, but advertising and marketing executives estimated the number to be in the hundreds. Aleph Choir, a musical group based in Kyoto, has a site on the Internet.
Yuji Fukuda, senior research director for Dentsu Institute for Human Studies, the research division of Dentsu Advertising, said more and more Japanese companies were adopting names that are foreign words, which are fashionable in Japanese society and useful in conducting international business.
"The name Aleph is appealing because it has a mystical connotation, which is also good for religious purposes," Mr. Fukuda said. "Words starting with an A are also advantageous in business because it's the first letter of the Japanese alphabets and English."
But Aleph Zero Company Ltd., a graphics design firm, has found little benefit in having a name associated with Aum Shinrikyo and has decided temporarily to stop placing its name in publications where its work appears.
"It's unfortunate, and gives us a negative image," said Saiichiro Suzuki, Aleph Zero's chairman. "But we can't sue Aum to stop them from using the name because we are in totally different industries."
Aleph Inc., which operates several restaurant chains on Hokkaido, said it had to shut down its Web site shortly after Aum announced the name change it because it could not handle the tremendous number of hits it received.
"We are deeply troubled by this misunderstanding, but we want everyone to know that we are not linked to Aum Shinrikyo or engaged in any type of religious activity," said Makoto Matsuo, an Aleph Inc. spokesman.
"We haven't ruled out changing our parent company name."
Aoyama, a chain of men's clothing stores, faced a similar problem shortly after the subway gas attack in 1995 when the public began to associate the retailer with Aum's lawyer, Yoshinobu Aoyama. The lawyer became a household name after appearing regularly on television to deny his clients' involvement in the attack.
The clothing store chain received scores of telephone calls and letters from people who criticized it for being "associated" with Aum. Sales at Aoyama stores plummeted along with its stock price, which dropped to 1,100 yen a share from 4,000 yen in a few weeks.
Fearing they might be solicited to join the cult, some customers refused to come to the clothing stores to pick up their suits, even though they had already paid for them.
In response, the company's president, Goro Aoyama, held a news conference, issued a written disclaimer to investors and posted signs in store windows saying that the chain was not Aum-related. The company also ran advertisements in the major daily newspapers denying any link to Mr. Aoyama, the group's lawyer.
"We never dreamed this could happen to us," said Hiroaki Okito, a spokesman. "The truth does not spread immediately, so companies in the same situation should take measures to counter these rumors as soon as possible."

TOKYO (AP) -- Police on Sunday found the kidnapped son of a former cult guru who is on trial for the 1995 sarin gassing on Tokyo subways.
The 7-year-old boy had been abducted Friday by several people believed to be members of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult.
It was unclear why the child, the son of Shoko Asahara, was kidnapped. Japanese media reports said it was probably related to infighting within the cult.
Police found the boy in a lodging house in the resort town of Hakone, 54 miles southwest of Tokyo. He and an older member of the cult were staying there under false names, said Toshiharu Yoneyama, an official with the Kanagawa state police.
Police arrested 29-year-old Akira Tone on charges of using a false name. They did not have enough evidence to arrest him on kidnapping charges, Yoneyama said.
Authorities tracked down the child after staff members at the lodging house told police they thought the missing boy was among their guests.
Yoneyama said the boy, whose name was not released, was ``well and has no problems.''
Six people, including Asahara's 16-year-old daughter, broke into the facility where the Asahara's son was living in Asahimura, 60 miles northeast of Tokyo. They assaulted two women there before making off with the child.
On Friday and Saturday, police arrested two of the intruders. Yoneyama said authorities did not know if Tone was among the six.
Asahara, who was recently replaced by Tatsuko Muraoka as head of the cult, is on trial on charges of masterminding the gas attack that killed 12 people and sickened thousands.
The cult recently changed its name to Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in an apparent gesture to ward off a planned crackdown by authorities.

YOKOHAMA, Jan. 23 (Kyodo) - The 7-year-old son of AUM founder Shoko Asahara was rescued unhurt at an inn in Kanagawa Prefecture on Sunday, two days after he was abducted from an AUM facility in Ibaraki Prefecture, police said.
The son was rescued at the inn in the hot spring resort of Hakone, police said, adding he is well.
According to police investigations, a group of six people, including two daughters of Asahara, kidnapped the boy from the AUM facility in the village of Asahi in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, early Friday morning.
Police obtained arrest warrants Saturday for the two daughters, aged 18 and 16, and another AUM member in connection with the abduction.
Followers view the 16-year-old girl as Asahara's successor, police said.
Asahara, 44, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and his wife, Tomoko Matsumoto, 41, have four daughters and two sons. The couple is in detention for their alleged involvement in a series of AUM-related crimes.
Asahara is on trial for his alleged role in at least 17 major crimes, including masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.
The cult announced Tuesday it was changing its name to ''Aleph.''

TOKYO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Japanese police issued arrest warrants on Saturday for five followers of a doomsday cult who are suspected of kidnapping the seven-year old son of the group's spiritual leader and founder.
Police said the five were part of a group of six who allegedly used a crowbar to break into a cult compound northeast of Tokyo early on Friday, assaulted two fellow members and made off with the oldest son of guru Shoko Asahara.
The incident occurred four days after the cult admitted Asahara may have been involved in the cult's deadly 1995 gas attack the Tokyo subway.
Cult member Satoshi Nagayama, was arrested at the scene of the crime on Friday on suspicion of abduction, trespassing and assault, police said.
A police spokesman said no motive for the kidnapping had been established and that Asahara's third oldest daughter, who is 16 years old, was a suspect in the case.
The cult struck fear into Japan with the gas attack which killed 12 people and made thousands ill.
It recently announced drastic reforms including changing its name to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ``Aleph,'' from Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect), and on Tuesday said for the first time that Asahara was likely involved in the subway attack.

MITO, Japan, Jan. 22 (Kyodo) - Police arrested Saturday a second male follower of the AUM Shinrikyo cult in connection with Friday's alleged abduction by six AUM members of the eldest son of cult founder Shoko Asahara.
Masaru Jingu, 30, was taken into custody on suspicion of inflicting bodily injury on others while involved in the abduction of the 7-year-old boy from an AUM facility in Asahi, Ibaraki Prefecture, police said.
On Friday, Satoshi Nagayama, 37, who lives at an AUM compound in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, was arrested on a charge of trespassing at the Asahi facility and assaulting two followers who tried to prevent him and the five others from taking the boy.
Police searched the two facilities Saturday after the six -- possibly including one of the boy's elder sisters -- allegedly broke into the Asahi facility Friday morning and took the boy away in a car.
Police have obtained arrest warrants for three others, but said they are treating the case of the last suspect with special care. The whereabouts of the boy are unknown, police added.
Police believe the six include Asahara's third eldest daughter, 16. Followers view her as her father's successor, according to police. The daughter lives in a facility in Hachioji, western Tokyo.
According to police investigations, the six AUM members entered the Asahi facility around 6 a.m. after breaking open the front door with a crowbar. They allegedly assaulted two followers, one man and one woman, who tried to stop them from taking the boy.
Police suspect Jingu choked one of the followers.
There have been arguments among Asahara's family and cult members as to where the boy should live, police said.
The daughter and son are among six children that Asahara, 44, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, had with his wife, Tomoko Matsumoto, 41. Asahara and his wife are in detention for their alleged involvement in a series of AUM-related crimes.
Of the remaining four children, two daughters, aged 21 and 10, live at the Asahi facility, and an 18-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son live at the Otawara facility, according to cult members.
According to police, Nagayama, Jingu and the four others are believed to have driven to the Asahi facility from the Otawara facility.
Sources close to the cult said Tomoko Matsumoto had suggested that her eldest son be moved to the Otawara facility due to conflicts among Asahara's children.
The cult announced Tuesday the changing of its name to ''Aleph.'' Asahara is on trial for his alleged role in at least 17 major crimes, including masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.

MITO, Japan, Jan. 22 (Kyodo) - Police on Saturday searched two AUM Shinrikyo facilities in connection with Friday's alleged abduction by six AUM members of the eldest son of cult founder Shoko Asahara.
The search of the two AUM facilities -- in Asahi, Ibaraki Prefecture and Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture -- followed the arrest of one of the six followers, Satoshi Nagayama, on Friday on suspicion of trespassing at the Asahi facility and assaulting two followers who tried to prevent the six from taking away the 7-year-old boy.
Nagayama, 37, was a resident of the Otawara facility.
According to police, the six, possibly including one of the boy's elder sisters, allegedly broke into the Asahi facility Friday morning and took away the boy in a car, police said.
The whereabouts of the five others and the boy are yet to be known, police added.
Police are investigating the degree to which each of the five suspects was involved in the alleged abduction, to determine whether they can obtain arrest warrants for them.
Police believe the suspects include Asahara's third eldest daughter, 16, who is viewed by followers to be her father's successor, according to police. The daughter lives in a facility in Hachioji, western Tokyo.
Police said Nagayama kept silent during questioning.
According to police investigations, the six AUM members entered the Asahi facility around 6 a.m. after breaking open the front door with a crowbar. They arrived at the facility in separate cars.
They allegedly assaulted two followers, one man and one woman, who tried to stop them from taking the boy away, police said.
Police arrested Nagayama after he was spotted at about 3:30 p.m. at a train station in Hokota, Ibaraki.
There have been arguments within Asahara's family and cult members as to where the boy should live, police said.
The daughter and the son are among six children that Asahara, 44, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, had with his wife, Tomoko Matsumoto, 41. Asahara and his wife are in detention for their alleged involvement in a series of AUM-related crimes.
Of the remaining four, two daughters, aged 21 and 10, live at the Asahi facility, and an 18-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son live at the Otawara facility, according to cult members.
According to police, Nagayama and the five others are believed to have driven to the Asahi facility from the Otawara facility.
Sources close to the cult said Tomoko Matsumoto had suggested that her eldest son be moved to the Otawara facility due to conflicts among Asahara's children.
The cult's public relations department acknowledged there have been conflicts within the family, but refused to comment on the case because it has not confirmed the details.
The cult announced Tuesday the changing of its name to ''Aleph.'' Asahara is on trial for his alleged role in at least 17 major crimes, including masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.

MITO, Japan, Jan. 22 (Kyodo) - Police obtained arrest warrants Saturday for two daughters of Shoko Asahara, the founder of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, and another AUM member in connection with the abduction Friday of Asahara's 7-year-old son, police said.
The two sisters, aged 18 and 16, and an AUM member are believed to be among six people who abducted the boy from an AUM facility in Asahi, Ibaraki Prefecture, police said. The whereabouts of the boy are still unknown, police added.
Followers view the 16-year-old girl as Asahara's successor, police said.
Earlier Saturday, follower Masaru Jingu, 30, was taken into custody on suspicion of being involved in the abduction.
And on Friday, Satoshi Nagayama, 37, who lives at an AUM compound in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, was arrested on charges of trespassing at the Asahi facility and of assaulting two followers who tried to prevent him and the five others from taking the boy.
Police searched the two facilities Saturday.
According to police, the six entered the Asahi facility around 6 a.m. after breaking open the front door with a crowbar. They allegedly assaulted two followers, one man and one woman, who tried to stop them from taking the boy.
Police allege Nagayama, Jingu and the four others drove to the Asahi facility from the Otawara facility. Jingu is suspected of having choked one of the followers.
Asahara, 44, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and his wife, Tomoko Matsumoto, 41, have four daughters and two sons. The couple is in detention for their alleged involvement in a series of AUM-related crimes.
Of the children, the 16-year-old daughter lives at a facility in Hachioji, western Tokyo, and the 18-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son live at the Otawara facility, according to cult members. Two other daughters, aged 21 and 10, live at the Asahi facility from where the boy was taken.
There have been arguments among Asahara's family and cult members as to where the boy should live, police said.
Sources close to the cult said Tomoko Matsumoto had suggested that her elder son be moved to the Otawara facility due to conflicts among Asahara's children.
Asahara is on trial for his alleged role in at least 17 major crimes, including masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.
The cult announced Tuesday it was changing its name to ''Aleph.''

TOKYO, Jan. 21 -- Intruders believed to be linked to the doomsday group behind the 1995 gas attack on Tokyo's subway abducted the 7-year-old son of the group's former leader today, the police said.
The kidnapping appeared to be a sign of infighting in the group -- which recently changed its name from Aum Shinrikyo to Aleph -- as it faces increasing pressure to disband, Japanese news reports said.
Several people broke into a building belonging to the group in Asahimura, 60 miles northeast of Tokyo, and assaulted those who tried to stop them, TBS TV said.
One intruder, Satoshi Nagayama, 37, a former Aum Shinrikyo member, was later arrested nearby and charged with breaking into the building, the police said.
The kidnappers fled by car, Kyodo News service said. The police were looking for the boy, whose name was not disclosed, and Mr. Nagayama's suspected accomplices, they said.
The former leader of the group, Shoko Asahara, who was recently replaced, has been charged with masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the subway that killed 12 people and sickened thousands.
The public has grown increasingly worried about the group, believed to have more than 2,000 followers, since one of its top leaders, Fumihiro Joyu, was released from prison last month.

ASAHI, Ibaraki - Six members of AUM Shinrikyo kidnapped the eldest son of founder Shoko Asahara after breaking into the cult's facility here early Friday morning, police said.
After the incident, police arrested a member of the cult on suspicion of trespassing. They are looking for other members involved and questioning Satoshi Nagayama, 37, from Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, about motives for taking the boy.
Police suspect that members of AUM, which now calls itself Aleph, abducted the 7-year-old son of Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, in an intragroup struggle. The son's name is being withheld.
The AUM members, according to police, came to the facility at about 6 a.m. and wrenched the door open with a crowbar. Two of the cultists visited the compound earlier but were refused entry.
They also allegedly assaulted fellow AUM members inside the facility.
They later kidnapped the son, fleeing in two cars, and members inside the facility reported the kidnapping to police.
The eldest son, second son and four daughters of Asahara had been living in the facility with several cult members since the autumn of 1998.
Several of them once moved to another facility in Otawara, but the eldest son came back to the Asahi facility recently, where the eldest daughter, 21, is reportedly staying.

More than 100 Japanese police Friday raided the Aleph cult, formerly Aum Supreme Truth, as the justice minister warned it was still a danger five years after gassing Tokyo's subway.
"A total of 160 police raided the cult," said an official in the security division of the Saitama prefectural police, north of Tokyo, which controlled the operation.
Officers swooped on 12 sect properties in areas including Tokyo, on suspicion of infractions involving applications for a parking lot permit and a residency registration.
The cult allegedly falsely claimed it had space for two cars when applying for a parking permit from police in Koshigaya, Saitama, last year, said a Saitama police officer, who declined to be named.
Other disciples were suspected of submitting a false document with the local government in 1996 to register a male follower's fictitious change of address.
Police have launched a string of such raids on suspicion of relatively minor crimes in past months as protests have mounted about the cult's growing presence in local communities.
Parliament passed legislation last month that could allow authorities to conduct raids and demand information and financial data from the sect without the need for a warrant.
But police must first convince a legal panel of the need for such a crackdown, and the cult is fighting the move with claims that it has reformed and is no longer a danger.
Just two days before the hearing by the legal panel Thursday, the cult issued a statement deposing its jailed guru Shoko Asahara as leader, changing the sect name to Aleph and vowing reforms, including a pledge to obey the law.
Asahara, 44, faces 17 charges including orchestrating the Tokyo subway attack in which disciples spread the Nazi-invented Sarin gas on trains, killing 12 people and injuring thousands.
But Justice Minsiter Hideo Usui told a news conference Friday that after reading reports of the reform, "I found the group is still dangerous and it continues to be closed-minded and deceptive." He said he expected the seven-member legal panel, the Public Security Examination Commission, to give a go-ahead for the legal crackdown "as soon as possible." In the one-day hearing before the legal panel, the cult had insisted it was no longer a danger.
Ramped-up law enforcement against the sect would be a "downright denial of basic human rights," argued the doomsday cult's new representative, Tatsuko Muraoka, during the five-hour hearing at the justice ministry.
"We have renounced the dangerous doctrine and worship what is good" about Aum guru Shoko Asahara's teachings, Muraoka said, adding that the cult would undergo drastic reform and compensate victims of its atrocities.

The Aleph doomsday cult (formerly Aum Shinri Kyo) said yesterday it was no longer dangerous and should not be subject to new laws that would put it under heavy government surveillance.
The cult, accused of mass murder for a 1995 gas attack that killed 12 and injured thousands on the Tokyo subway, announced earlier this week drastic reforms, including a name change.
"Our sect poses no danger now," Kyodo news agency quoted the cult's newly appointed leader, Tatsuko Muraoka, as saying during a hearing conducted by the Public Security Examination Commission.
The hearing is part of a process to determine whether the cult will be affected by new laws aimed at cracking down on groups which threaten public safety.
The laws, passed by parliament in December in response to fears the cult was making a comeback, do not name the group but target the activities of any group that has engaged in "indiscriminate mass murder" in the past 10 years.
Under the legislation, a group implicated in serious crime could be placed under the surveillance of the Public Security Investigation Agency for up to three years and could be forced to report on its activities every three months.
The bill also allows authorities to inspect such a group's facilities at any time. If found to have committed illegal activities, the group can be banned from acquiring land or facilities for up to six months.
The Public Security Investigation Agency said at the hearing the group was still dangerous and its reforms were merely an attempt to avoid becoming a target of the new laws.

Dissident members of the Japanese Aleph cult, formerly Aum Supreme Truth, launched a bizarre attempt Friday to kidnap the seven-year-old son of former guru Shoko Asahara, police said.
It was unclear what the disciples planned but the attempted dawn snatch came just three days after the doomsday cult declared it had changed its name and deposed 44-year-old Asahara as its leader.
The disciples tried to take the boy from a cult colony in Ibaraki, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Tokyo, a police spokesman said, but it was not clear if he was actually removed.
The young boy was later confirmed to be safe in the custody of the Aleph facility and one of the wayward members was arrested on charges of trespassing and assault, said the spokesman for Ibaraki prefectural police.
"They tried to break into the facility in early morning, conspiring to take out the son," the spokesman said. "It is still not clear where they were from but they punched and wounded resident disciples." Asahara has another son, who is five years old.
Both sons have been revered as spiritual leaders since Asahara nominally stepped down as the sect guru in 1996.
The former guru is in jail facing 17 charges including orchestrating an attack on the Tokyo subway in March 1995 in which disciples spread the Nazi-invented Sarin gas on trains, killing 12 people and injuring thousands.
The kidnap attempt came on the same day that more than 100 Japanese police raided cult properties.
"A total of 160 police raided the cult," said an official in the security division of the Saitama prefectural police, north of Tokyo, which controlled the operation.
Officers swooped on 12 sect properties in areas including Tokyo, on suspicion of infractions involving applications for a parking lot permit and a residency registration.
The cult allegedly falsely claimed it had space for two cars when applying for a parking permit from police in Koshigaya, Saitama, last year, said a Saitama police officer, who declined to be named.
Other disciples were suspected of submitting a false document to the local government in 1996 to register a male follower's fictitious change of address.
Police have launched a string of such raids on suspicion of relatively minor crimes in past months as protests have mounted about the cult's growing presence in local communities.
Parliament last month passed legislation that could allow authorities to conduct raids and demand information and financial data from the sect without a warrant.
But police must first convince a legal panel of the need for such a crackdown, and the cult is fighting the move with claims that it has reformed and is no longer a danger.
Just two days before a hearing by the legal panel Thursday, the cult issued a statement deposing Asahara, changing the sect name to Aleph and vowing reforms, including a pledge to obey the law.
But Justice Minister Hideo Usui told a news conference Friday that after reading reports of the reform, "I found the group is still dangerous and it continues to be closed-minded and deceptive." He said he expected the seven-member legal panel, the Public Security Examination Commission, to give a go-ahead for the legal crackdown "as soon as possible."

TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Several followers of Japan's doomsday cult, which has admitted involvement in nerve gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system five years ago, on Friday kidnapped their guru's oldest son, police said.
A police spokesman said six followers of the Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect), which recently announced a name change, broke into the sect's facility in Asahimura, northeast of Tokyo, and took away the seven-year-old son of guru Shoko Asahara.
The spokesman said there was no clear motive for the abduction.
The cult struck fear in Japan with the gas attack, which killed 12 people and made thousands ill.
Earlier this week it announced drastic reforms, including a name change to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ``Aleph.'' It also said that Asahara, currently on trial for 17 charges including the subway attack, may have been involved in the crimes.
The cult has apologised for the crimes committed by its followers and pledged to pay compensation to the victims.
Japan has become increasingly focussed on the activities of fringe religious groups in Japan.
Police said earlier on Friday that they found two mummified bodies of children in a house believed to have been used by a religious group.
The body of a six-year-old boy was found lying on a bed, while another body of an infant, whose sex has not been identified, was found in a wooden box near the boy, said a spokesman for Miyazaki Prefectural Police in southwestern Japan.
Authorities arrested two occupants of the house, Junichiro Higashi, 55, and Akemi Togashi, 49, on suspicion of abandoning the corpses of the two children, believed to have been dead for over a year.
Higashi headed a group called ``Kaieda-juku'' which media reports described as a quasi-religious group treating children with illnesses as well as those with problems in school.

URAWA, Japan, Jan. 21 (Kyodo) - Police on Friday searched the premises of 12 facilities of the cult AUM Shinrikyo, now calling itself ''Aleph,'' on suspicion that members had forged registration documents for parking and residency, police said.
The members are suspected of submitting to Koshigaya Police Station last year an application for a two-car parking lot, falsely claiming their facility in Saitama's Koshigaya had space for such a lot. Car owners in Japan are required by law to have police-authorized parking space.
The facilities are located in Tokyo, Saitama, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, and Gifu prefectures.
Other members allegedly submitted a falsified document to register a male follower's fictitious move from Omiya to Hidaka, both in Saitama, to the local governments in 1996, police said.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Hideo Usui urged the Public Security Examination Commission to make an early decision to allow security authorities to monitor the cult's members.
''We will not withdraw our request to monitor the members. Reading the report (about the commission's hearing Thursday), I found them still to be deceptive and dangerous,'' Usui said at a press conference.
In the hearing, some cult members demanded that the commission reject the Public Security Investigation Agency's request for approval to apply a new law to monitor the doomsday cult.
AUM members, announcing the group's name change Tuesday, said the group has changed and no longer poses a threat to society.

AUM Shinrikyo, now calling itself Aleph, demanded that the Public Security Examination Commission Thursday drop the application of an anti-AUM law, arguing that the law is a gross violation of human rights.
The commission held a hearing at the Ministry of Justice following a request by the Public Security Investigation Agency to apply the law, which enables the authorities to monitor activities of AUM and its followers.
Describing the cult as "secluded and deceptive," the agency argued that despite the new name, the character of AUM has not changed since it went on a crime spree under the direction of guru Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto.
"AUM carried out sarin gas attacks in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, and in Tokyo to establish an autocracy under the dictatorship of Matsumoto," a Public Security officer said. "The religious order is founded on dogmas laid down by Matsumoto, and he is still a revered figure (despite the admission by the cult that he took part in the crimes)."
The agency said that the monitoring is necessary, because AUM's high-ranking members at the time of the crimes, including Masato Yokoyama, a perpetrator of the Tokyo sarin attack who is appealing his death sentence, remain in the cult, some still as executive members.
However, AUM, represented by the new head Tatsuko Muraoka, three lawyers and a legal expert, repeated Tuesday's announcement that Asahara is no longer the focal point of their faith and the cult is not a dangerous organization anymore.
The cult said in a statement that the law "is a direct contradiction to basic human rights," while denying that the sarin gas attacks were politically motivated.
It also said that both Asahara and Yokoyama are under detention and are unable to participate in cult activities.
Masao Shibata, who heads a group of local residents trying to drive the cult from their neighborhood in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, is not impressed.
"The cult is just quibbling to avoid the law," Shibata said. "The sooner AUM dissolves, the better."
Mayor Kijuro Tateno, of Sanwa, Ibaraki Prefecture, believes that the "persecution" of the cult is their own making. His refusal to register a number of AUM followers who moved into the town and the subsequent troubles intensified argue for the introduction of the anti-AUM law.
"The most important thing now is how to help out AUM followers who sincerely regret the past wrongdoing," Tateno said.

TOKYO, Jan. 20 (Kyodo) - The AUM Shinrikyo religious cult urged the Public Security Examination Commission on Thursday to reject a request by security authorities for approval to apply a new law to monitor the cult, saying the group has changed and poses no threat to society.
In a one-day session held by the independent commission to hear from AUM over the Public Security Investigation Agency's request, the agency said there is reason to believe that AUM could commit indiscriminate mass murder again.
AUM denied all the reasons cited by security authorities for getting the commission's approval to apply the new law.
The session was held two days after AUM admitted the involvement of cult founder Shoko Asahara in a series of crimes and also unveiled a reform plan that includes the liquidation of the group's assets and changing of its name from AUM to ''Aleph.'' Asahara and a large number of AUM members have been charged, and some already convicted, with a series of crimes, notably the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 12 people and injured thousands.
AUM demanded the Justice Ministry-affiliated agency not use unidentified followers' remarks as evidence at the screening session, saying such comments would not be admissible as evidence in a trial.
The agency said AUM still sticks to a dogma that allows murder.
AUM's nominal leader Tatsuko Muraoka expressed the group's intention not to part from the teachings of Asahara.
''Most of former leader Asahara's teachings are Buddha's. We will believe what we believe is good,'' she said.
AUM denied that Asahara still exerts strong influence on its activities and said the group has already scrapped parts of its doctrine which have been criticized as dangerous.
It rejected the agency's argument that the sarin nerve gas attacks on the Tokyo subway and in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture in 1994 were carried out to advance Asahara's political goal of establishing a dictatorial state.
The new law was enacted last December in a bid to curb the activities of any organization that has committed ''indiscriminate mass murder during the past 10 years'' -- meaning, in effect, AUM.
Citing the agency's presentation of e-mail messages whose senders and receivers remained unidentified as evidence of the absolute power of Asahara, AUM said the agency's way of establishing its arguments is sloppy and incomprehensible.
During the commission's screening of the agency's request in 1996 for permission to apply the 1952 Antisubversive Activities Law to AUM, the commission declined to adopt as evidence unidentified persons' statements and newspaper articles submitted by the agency.
The commission decided in January 1997 to reject the agency's request, saying the group could no longer pose a threat to society.
In Thursday's session, Muraoka again apologized to victims of a series of crimes committed by AUM and promised to pay damages.
The commission rejected AUM's request that its screening session be held again and is expected to make a decision around Feb. 3 on whether the 1999 anti-AUM law will be applied to monitor and crack down on the group.
The agency asked the commission on Dec. 27 to allow it to monitor the cult by conducting on-the-spot inspections and requiring the cult to regularly submit reports on its members and activities in line with the new law, which came into force the same day.
AUM repeated its arguments against the new law, saying that legislation targeted at a specific group is unconstitutional.
The agency said that even if a group poses no concrete threat, the law should be applied when dangerous factors become evident.
On Sept. 29 last year the cult said it would suspend all its external activities from that day, and on Dec. 1, two days before the Diet enacted the new legislation, it issued an apology and promised to pay compensation to victims of its crimes.
Asahara is on trial for his involvement in at least 17 major crimes, including the Tokyo sarin gas attack.
The session was attended by seven members of the commission, five representatives of AUM, and five officials of the agency. The media and general public were allowed to be present, with some 600 people seeking one of the 35 seats allotted to the public.

TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Japan's doomsday cult said on Thursday it is no longer dangerous and should not be subject to new laws that would put it under heavy government surveillance.
The cult, accused of mass murder for a 1995 gas attack that killed 12 and injured thousands on the Tokyo subway, announced earlier this week drastic reforms including a name change.
``Our sect poses no danger now,'' Kyodo news agency quoted the cult's newly appointed leader Tatsuko Muraoka as saying during a hearing conducted by the Public Security Examination Commission.
The hearing is part of a process to determine whether the cult will be affected by new laws aimed at cracking down on activities of groups which threaten public safety.
The laws, passed by Japan's parliament in December in response to fears the cult was making a comeback, do not specify the group by name but target the activities of any group that has engaged in ``indiscriminate mass murder'' in the past 10 years.
Under the legislation, a group implicated in serious crimes could be placed under the surveillance of the Public Security Investigation Agency for up to three years and could be forced to report on its activities every three months.
The bill also allows authorities to inspect such a group's facilities at any time thought necessary. If found to have committed illegal activities, the group can be banned from acquiring land or facilities for up to six months. The Public Security Investigation Agency, which is pushing for the law to be applied to the cult, said at the hearing the group was still dangerous and its reforms were merely an attempt to avoid becoming a target of the new laws.
The cult, formerly known as Aum Shinri Kyo, announced on Tuesday the reforms after acknowledging that its founder Shoko Asahara, currently on trial for 17 charges including the subway attack, may have been involved in the crimes.
The cult has apologised for the crimes committed by its followers and pledged to pay compensation to the victims.
It is changing its name to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ``Aleph,'' a move that has unnerved a number of Japanese companies sharing the same name.
A restaurant chain, Aleph Inc, said on Thursday it is considering changing its name, while the Aleph preparatory school in Osaka said it feared its students could be mistakenly associated with the cult when they apply to universities.

TOKYO, Jan. 20 (Kyodo) - The Public Security Examination Commission opened a one-day session Thursday to hear from AUM Shinrikyo over security authorities' request to allow them to monitor and crack down on the cult in line with a new anti-AUM law.
The session at the Justice Ministry was attended by seven members of the independent panel, five representatives of AUM, and five officials of the Justice Ministry's Public Security Investigation Agency, which filed the request.
AUM's nominal leader Tatsuko Muraoka and lawyer Yuji Maeda, an AUM legal agent, were among them. AUM founder Shoko Asahara and a large number of AUM members have been accused, some already convicted, in a series of crimes, notably the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
The media and general public were allowed to be present at the hearing. Some 600 people sought tickets for the 35 seats allotted to the public.
Commission officials said the commission decided to summon AUM Shinrikyo to determine whether to invoke the new law to crack down on its activities.
Before the AUM side stated its views, security agency officials explained why they are seeking to monitor the cult, saying there is evidence that the group may commit indiscriminate mass murder again.
The commission is expected to make a decision around Feb. 3, as the law stipulates that the independent commission reach a decision within 30 days after the government's ''Kampo'' gazette announces a scheduled hearing for members of any group to which the law might be applied. The gazette announced the date Jan. 5.
The Public Security Investigation Agency on Dec. 27 asked the commission to allow it to monitor the cult by conducting on-the-spot inspections and requiring the cult to regularly submit reports on its members and activities in line with the new legislation, which came into force the same day.
The legislation was enacted in a bid to curb activities of any organization that has committed ''indiscriminate mass murder during the past 10 years'' -- meaning, in effect, AUM.
In the documents submitted to the commission, the agency maintains the cult is unchanged from the organization held responsible for the serious crimes.
It also said official surveillance of the cult was necessary because Asahara still exerts considerable influence over the cult, which retains its dogma allowing murder.
It also noted that Masato Yokoyama, who was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court over his role in the subway gassing, is still an AUM member. Yokoyama is now appealing to the Tokyo High Court.
The agency claimed the cult expanded its activities across the nation after the commission decided in January 1997 not to apply the 1952 Antisubversive Activities Law to AUM, saying the group could no longer pose a threat to Japanese society.
On Sept. 29 last year the cult said it would suspend all its external activities from that day. It then issued an apology and pledged Dec. 1 to provide compensation to victims its crimes, two days before the Diet enacted two bills aimed at cracking down on AUM.
On Tuesday, the group admitted the involvement of Asahara in a series of crimes. It also unveiled a reform plan that includes the liquidation of the group's assets and changing its name from AUM to ''Aleph.
However, the Justice Ministry and the security agency believe it almost certain that the commission will invoke the law against AUM, citing the threat the group still poses to society as it has yet to discard the teachings preached by Asahara, ministry sources said.
Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is on trial for his alleged role in at least 17 major crimes, including masterminding the Tokyo sarin gas attack, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.

TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The new name of Japan's doomsday cult accused of a 1995 mass murder attempt has unnerved some Japanese companies unlucky enough to share the same name.
Aum Shinri Kyo said earlier this week it will change its name to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ``Aleph.
A number of companies or institutions already use that name in Japan, and they fear being mistaken for the cult, whose members have been convicted or are on trial for a gas attack which killed 12 and injured thousands on the Tokyo subway.
``We are greatly troubled by this,'' said a spokesman for Aleph, a preparatory school for college examinations based in the western commercial city of Osaka.
The school said its students could be mistakenly associated with the cult when they submit applications to universities.
A restaurant chain, Aleph Inc, says it is considering changing its name to avoid any misunderstanding.
The Hokkaido-based company has set up posters in all of its 200 restaurants explaining that it has no relation to the cult after inquiries from customers.
A Tokyo-based publisher Kazuo Watanabe, who named his company Aleph 30 years ago, said he was worried his business may be affected although he has yet to decide whether to change the company name to something else.
``It's disturbing,'' Watanabe said.
Japanese media estimate there are more than 70 firms registered under the name ``Aleph.

If your business happens to be called "Aleph," then have someone standing by to man the phones. Since AUM Shinrikyo decided to change its name to "Aleph" on Tuesday, many businesses with the same name across the nation have been flooded with phone calls from inquiring customers and curious people.
"Since our establishment in 1968, we have been in the restaurant business and have never engaged in any religious activities," said an angry official of Aleph Inc., which runs Bikkuri Donkey and other restaurant chains in Hokkaido and the Kanto region. "Many of our contractors and clients have made inquiries about our supposed allegiance. It is really annoying."
The company was forced to close its Internet homepage indefinitely, as the system almost went down Tuesday due to more than 300 accesses within an hour of the announcement.
According to the official, an argument to change the company name has support since that would be much simpler than answering all inquiries.
Cosmetics giant Shiseido Co., which has a line of men's toilet articles called Aleph, is flabbergasted.
"We are totally at a loss. I don't know what to say," an official of Shiseido's publicity section said.
The company has a copyright on the name, but since AUM-turned-Aleph is involved in a totally different sphere, Shiseido has no way of preventing the cult from using the name.
"At the moment, all we can do is wait and see," the official said.
A Yokohama-based computer equipment company, Nippon Aleph, said that it is consulting lawyers to deal with the unforeseen disaster, but said it had not come up with any solution yet.
The company is one of the top manufacturers of sophisticated sensors in the country, and its Aleph name is well known overseas.
"If our clients think we may be somehow related to AUM, I'm sure our business will be affected," a Nippon Aleph official said. "Still, we doubt whether people will start to identify AUM as Aleph. The new name may just remind people how desperate AUM is to avoid being monitored under the new (anti-AUM) law."
Another namesake, this one an Osaka-based cram school for students aiming to enter a faculty of medicine, has been bombarded with calls from worried students and their parents.
The school has nothing to do with the cult, but said it is worried that students may desert it because of the image problems that the name Aleph would bring.

The Public Security Examination Commission held a hearing this morning in Tokyo to hear opinions of the former Aum Shinrikyo cult, now renamed Aleph, about a likely crackdown on the activities of the sect under a newly-enacted law.
In the hearing held in the Kasumigaseki district, the Public Security Investigation Agency argued forcefully for the crackdown on grounds the group remains potentially dangerous as ever.
Agency officials asserted that followers of the newly renamed cult still believe the dogma preached by Chizuo Matsumoto, who is accused of masterminding deadly sarin gas attacks in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, and on the Tokyo subway system, among other crimes.
The officials also said that Matsumoto is still the leader of the cult despite a statement from the group it has reformed itself and that he now is regarded merely as a ``spiritual being.''
Refuting the agency's arguments, cult members were expected to press the commission to reject the agency's request for the crackdown. They were also expected to state that there is no possibility of the cult ever returning to its murderous ways or becoming a public menace again.
Acting cult leader Tatsuko Muraoka was joined by Masaaki Fukuda, professor of criminal law at Hitotsubashi University, and three lawyers in representing the views of the cult.
The commission is expected to make a final decision in early February at the earliest.

Japan's notorious Aum Shinri Kyo sect, which fatally gassed 12 Tokyo subway commuters and sickened thousands five years ago, has changed its name and dumped its jailed leader.
In a bid to avoid the Government's tough new legislation, expected to curtail its activities from next month, Aum elders have given their organisation a pre-emptive overhaul.
In response, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said yesterday the Government would keep a close watch on the cult. "We have proper grounds for suspecting their announcement is only aimed at evading legal regulations," Mr Aoki said.
He said procedures for the Public Security Examination Commission to judge whether Aum should be monitored would be kept intact.
The renaming of Aum to Aleph was signalled last year when the sect publicly confessed to its part in the 1995 sarin gas attack.
Aleph is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet but more significantly was also used by one of the sect's trading companies.
Chizuo Matsumoto, 44, former Aum leader and founder, has been officially sacked despite his effective removal from cult activities when he was held for trial on murder and 17 other charges.
His deputy, Tatsuko Muraoka, 49, yesterday was appointed the new head.
She said the cult acknowledged its former leader had been implicated in the sarin attack, the first time the group has publicly admitted his guilt.
Last year Aum admitted to the gassing and said it would compensate the 2,100 victims.
Significantly, the new head of Aleph did not denounce her former leader, instead referring to him as a "genius meditator".
While his more dangerous preachings would be abandoned, she said members would carry on his yoga and meditation methods, as well as his Buddhist teachings.
The revamp plan was devised in part by Fumihiro Joyu, 37, who was freed from prison last month after serving three years for perjury.
Cult watchers feared his return to the fold would spark a reorganisation of the group, which saw its membership plummet in the wake of the sarin attack.
The cult has been trying to regain public confidence for its cause over the past year, but with little success. The Japanese public is still deeply distrustful of the group.
The first tentative steps towards helping victims came earlier this week when the cult handed over five properties that housed followers across the country.
The properties had been bought for 171 million yen (HK$12.65 million), but cash raised from their sale would be insufficient for the 2,100 victims who have demanded compensation for being poisoned or for losing a relative.
Since that morning in March 1995 when commuters heading to work were overcome by sarin fumes, the maximum paid to any one person has been 750,000 yen.
The average payment for the thousands of victims has been only 10,000 yen.
"The compensation paid has been very small," said Saburo Abe, a lawyer administering Aum's bankruptcy.
"It was insufficient in helping ease the suffering of victims."
He set up a fund through which the sale of seized Aum assets would be divided among all the victims.
So far, these have covered only a quarter of the money demanded.
Mr Abe said he hoped some of the deficit would be made up through litigation and donations.
Authorities believe Aum's offer of the properties is just a token gesture.
They believe the cult may simply change its name in an effort to keep on going as before.
Cult membership has dwindled from its peak of 10,000 to 2,000, but authorities fear the group is actively recruiting and raising cash through pop concerts and two successful computer businesses it still owns.
The Government is intent on destroying the sect.
Tough legislation was passed in November which is expected to allow police surveillance of the cult from next month, as well as searches without warrants.
Aum would have to give three-monthly reports on membership and activities.
The legislation also paves the way for authorities to seize remaining properties and assets, suggesting that Aum could soon be bled dry of funds by the law and also by its own desire to compensate victims.
While time is running out, many in Japan hope Aum's revenues will keep flowing long enough to accomplish the latter goal.

TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Wednesday) - The doomsday cult responsible for releasing nerve gas in the Tokyo subway system in 1995, killing 12 people and injuring thousands others, dropped its guru, changed its name and apologized to its victims Tuesday.
In a statement sent to newspapers and posted on the Internet, the Aum Supreme Truth cult admitted for the first time that its founder was involved in the gas attack. The bearded and nearly blind Shoko Asahara, who embodied the cult and was the object of fervent adulation by its members, is on trial on 17 charges, including murder.
"Although we cannot say for sure since the trial is still going on, we have come to a consensus that Asahara was likely involved in the series of crimes he is charged with," the statement said.
The cult said that while Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is a genius in yoga and Buddhist meditation methods, from now on, "he will be regarded as a spiritual presence so he will not be giving directions to followers."
The group, which now calls itself Aleph, said its members would be asked to reapply and must pledge to obey the law. The members "will make it clear that, far from committing mass murder, they will not murder or injure anyone," the statement said.
The cult has continued its religious and business activities since the subway killings, although Asahara and dozens of others are on trial for the attack. The number two cult leader, Fumihiro Joyu, who signed the statement, was released from prison at the end of December, sparking concern that he would revitalize the group. As many as 2,000 people are believed to be members, and there are regular scuffles and protests by angry residents around buildings in Tokyo or nearby prefectures known to be owned or rented by the cult.
In response to fears that the cult was making a comeback, parliament passed a tough new law in December that would allow police to enter facilities and require the group to provide information about its members and activities every three months. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday on whether police can begin new surveillance under the law.
The cult's announcement is "merely a move aimed at circumventing restrictions based on the law," said Mikio Aoki, the chief cabinet secretary.
Tatsuko Muraoka, who has been the acting representative of the cult, will take over the top post, but there will be no guru, according to the statement. The new "fundamental subject of adoration for the new group will be the Great God Shiva and various Buddhas," it said.
The cult said its new name was taken from the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, to indicate a fresh start.
The reaction to the cult's announcement was largely skeptical. "These measures are to avoid criticism from the public, but neither the victims nor the public can believe them. It's a total farce," said Yoshifu Arita, an author and expert on the cult. "It's just like Aum is changing its clothes and nothing more."
A lawyer for victims of the gas attack, Taro Takimoto, told reporters that the announcement was a step forward, "but coming from a sect that has lied and lied in the past, it is hard for us to believe what they said."
Michiko Hishinuma, whose husband was killed in the Tokyo subway attack, was quoted in Japanese newspapers as saying that "if they are sincere about their apologies, they should denounce all dogmas laid down by Asahara. Adopting a new name means nothing."
The cult apologized to victims in its statement and said it intended to pay compensation. But the amount of cult assets are in dispute. Its tangled assets are being slowly unwound by a court-appointed bankruptcy administrator. The new law would make it easier for officials to seize cult assets and pay 1,000 people demanding compensation for the subway gassing and another gas attack in Nagano Prefecture that killed seven people.
The national newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun said earlier this month that two computer companies linked to the cult reportedly hid about $49 million in profits over the past five years.
Kenji Utsunomiya, another lawyer representing victims, said that since Aum did not use banks, it was difficult to know how much money it had. He said some reports estimated the hidden cash at nearly $7 million.

Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.

Aum Shinri Kyo, the doomsday cult behind the 1995 attack on Tokyo's subways, said it plans to use the salaries of its believers to pay 30 million yen ($283,000) to 60 million annually to victims of the attack, NHK television news said, citing a statement from the cult. The group, which is changing its name to ``Aleph,'' said it hopes to collect 5,000 yen to 10,000 yen from each of its 500 believers every month. The cult didn't mention whether or not it would use revenue from its personal computer retail business, which is said to be lucrative, to compensate the more than 5,000 victims, the report said.
Fumihiro Joyu, 37, former spokesman for the Aum Supreme Truth cult, walked free from prison on Dec. 29 after serving three years for perjury.

OSAKA, Jan. 19 (Kyodo) - An Osaka preparatory school on Wednesday sent letters to about 20 colleges and universities in Japan saying it has nothing to do with the AUM Shinrikyo cult, which announced Tuesday it will change its name to ''Aleph,'' the school president said.
The school, Aleph, specializes in training high school students and graduates aiming to study medicine and dentistry in colleges and universities. Aleph students are applying for admission to these institutions this spring.
Aleph students and their parents began voicing concerns that the institutions may mistake applicants for cult members because students are required to indicate the name of their preparatory school in application forms, Takehisa Ueda, president of the preparatory school, said.
In an underlined sentence, the letter said the school ''has noting to do with AUM Shinrikyo.'' The letter called for the understanding of the institutions, saying the applicants and their parents are suffering from additional pressure and nuisance before examinations.
The school has been giving courses for the last two decades, Ueda said, adding he wants the school's name changed sometime in the next fiscal year beginning in April.
Meanwhile, companies bearing the name ''Aleph'' said they had received several dozen phone calls and several hundred hits on their Web sites immediately after AUM announced its decision to rename itself.
Men's clothes wholesaler Aleph in Yokohama said it received more than 30 calls from business partners Tuesday afternoon asking whether its employees were AUM followers.
Restaurant chain operator Aleph in Sapporo said it was forced to suspend its Web site because more than 300 hits were registered in an hour.
Managers of the companies said they were considering taking measures to prevent further confusion, including changing their companies' names.

TOKYO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - A senior member of the doomsday cult accused of one of Japan's worst mass-murder attempts says he wants to bring democracy to a reborn group.
The comment follows a statement by the cult on Tuesday acknowledging that founder Shoko Asahara may have been involved in the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways, and pledging to carry out drastic reforms.
Fumihiro Joyu, the cult's one-time charismatic spokesman and number two leader, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday that he no longer depended on Asahara for spiritual support.
``I used to think of Asahara as a god...but I no longer depend on him spiritually,'' said Joyu, who was released from jail late last year after serving a three-year sentence for perjury.
Joyu said he would not be directly involved in running the reformed cult, but would advise a new executive group.
``Until now, absolute power concentrated on those at higher spiritual levels.
That may have been one cause of the incidents. I want to help change us into a democratic group,'' Joyu said.
``It will no longer be 'a group by Asahara, for Asahara, of Asahara' but...'a group by all, for all, of all','' he said.
Joyu, whose way with words and good looks won him some admirers after the gas attack which killed 12 and injured thousands, said he came to think that his master was involved after learning about court testimony by fellow cult members.
``I persuaded cult officials to admit it (Asahara's involvement),'' Joyu said, still referring to the cult founder by the honorific ``master.'' ``People may not believe me, but I must do what I must do, such as paying compensation to the victims,'' Joyu said.
The cult said on Tuesday that Asahara was likely involved in the crimes for which he is now standing trial, including the subway attack. But it said it would continue to practice his teachings.
The cult has already apologised for the crimes committed by its followers and pledged to pay compensation to the victims.
But experts say the move may be an attempt to avoid becoming a target of government surveillance under new laws allowing authorities sweeping powers to clamp down on such groups.

TOKYO, Jan. 18 -- The religious group responsible for a deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 said for the first time today that its founder and leader had probably been involved in the attack and that he would no longer serve as the group's leader.
Distancing itself from the leader, Shoko Asahara, who is on trial on charges of masterminding the sarin gas attack that killed 12 people and injured 5,000 others, the group, Aum Shinrikyo, said he was probably involved in other crimes as well.
But it also said members would continue to follow his spiritual teachings.
"Although we cannot say for sure, since the trial is still going on, we have come to a consensus that Asahara was likely involved in the series of crimes he is charged with," the group's senior members said in a statement. "Asahara is a genius in yoga and Buddhist meditation methods, and we will continue to practice those methods inherited from him."
The members avoided addressing the extent of their own complicity in any crimes. Although prosecutors have not implicated any of the senior members, critics of the group have said it is unlikely that the subway attack took place without their knowledge.
Many ordinary Japanese regarded the reorganization announced by the group today as largely cosmetic and expressed skepticism that the group would be any less dangerous. It was widely seen as trying to evade new legislation that would allow the government to curb its activities.
In addition to the subway attack, the trial of Mr. Asahara, 44, includes 16 other crimes, among which are murder, attempted murder, a separate nerve gas attack and production of weaponry.
The group said today that it was making "drastic reforms," including changing its name from Aum to Aleph, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and purging itself of doctrine that condoned murder for the benefit of the group.
Aleph, which members said signifies renewal, is also the name of a company affiliated with the group, which is believed to have about 2,100 followers.
Fumihiro Joyu, the group's charismatic former spokesman who is now its second-highest official, extended his apologies to victims of crimes linked to Aum and said it would compensate them through sales of real estate and other assets.
"I'd like to give a deep apology to the victims and bereaved, and say that I feel personally responsible as one who belonged to the same religious group," said Mr. Joyu, 37, who returned to the group last month after serving a three-year jail term for perjury in a case unrelated to the subway attack.
While Mr. Joyu is widely seen as the de facto leader, the religious group said today that its acting head, Tatsuko Muraoka, 49, would immediately assume the leadership mantle.
Ms. Muraoka said in a statement today that the group considered Mr. Asahara "a spiritual being" but that he no longer had the authority to give directions to members. She said that all followers had been instructed to abandon any dogma considered dangerous and that the group's main focus of worship would be Buddhist deities. Ms. Muraoka said the new group would pose "no threat to society."
By dismissing Mr. Asahara as its leader and undertaking a restructuring, the group appears to hoping to stave off a move by the Government to restrict its activities and finances.
In November, Parliament passed legislation that gives security forces broad powers to monitor and curtail the activities of organizations that have committed "indiscriminate mass murder" and those whose leaders hold strong influence over its members.
The laws allow security forces and the police to inspect such a group's sites at any time and makes it easier for victims of crimes committed by the group to gain compensation.
While the legislation did not mention Aum by name, lawmakers said it was targeted at the group.
"Aum knows that it cannot escape the introduction of the new law, and this is their way of trying to avoid it," said Shoko Egawa, a freelance journalist who is known for her coverage of Aum. "Externally, they may have changed their name, but internally everything is the same. They are meditating to Asahara."
A friend of Ms. Egawa, a lawyer who sought to persuade followers to leave the group, was murdered by Aum members.
In an interview with reporters, Justice Minister Hideo Usui said the government should "carefully watch" the group's activities to determine whether the reforms were intended to evade the new laws.
The legislation came in response to growing public concerns in Japan over Aum's increasing membership and commercial activities in the last year. As the group acquired new buildings to house followers and operations in cities across Japan, local residents and municipal governments held protests and refused to allow members to register as city residents.
On television news programs tonight, citizen protest groups camping outside Aum sites in cities across Japan said they still believed that the group was dangerous and vowed to continue their protests.
"Nothing has changed except for the name," said a woman in Otawara, a farming village 80 miles north of Tokyo, where residents have staged huge protests outside an Aum residence there.

Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult members admitted for the first time Tuesday that founder-guru Shoko Asahara instigated a series of crimes that culminated in the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
The cult also said it has adopted a new name, "Aleph," to replace AUM Shinrikyo.
Cult members said that Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the name represents a fresh beginning for the group.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the cult announced a number of reforms intended to detach itself from its past centered on the fanatical following of Asahara, 44.
"We have concluded from trials of former executives that Asahara is highly likely to have been involved in the AUM crimes," Fumihiro Joyu, the cult's former mouthpiece recently released from prison, said.
Joyu went on to denounce the AUM crimes under Asahara, but praised the guru as a "meditator supreme."
Asahara is on trial for at least 17 major crimes, including fatal sarin gas attacks in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture and in Tokyo, as well as numerous murder charges.
Tatsuko Muraoka, deputy representative of AUM, said she would head the group under the new name.
"There will be no guru in the new group," Muraoka said in the statement. "Asahara's position will be that of a 'spiritual being,' but he is not going to be the absolute figure in our faith."
Muraoka stated that Aleph will base its religious practice on Asahara's interpretation of ancient yoga, fundamental Buddhism and the Mahayana. An old dogma that permitted murder and provided theoretical backings for crimes will be ditched.
All current followers of the cult must sign an oath in line with the new policy.
She also argued that the reforms are not intended to dodge a crackdown on the cult through the anti-AUM law, application of which is currently under consideration by the Public Security Examination Commission.
Muraoka said that the AUM executives pondered about dissolving the cult, but decided against it because it would deny a means of providing compensation to victims of AUM crimes.
Both Joyu and Muraoka offered their apologies to the victims.
However, Michiko Hishinuma, whose husband died in the deadly Tokyo subway gassing, described the cult's move as a desperate attempt at survival.
"If they are sincere about their apologies, they should denounce all dogmas laid down by Asahara," Hishinuma said. "Adopting a new name means nothing. I just can't forgive the cult's very existence. I want them to dissolve."

YOKOHAMA-Fumihiro Joyu, Aum Shinrikyo's charismatic former spokesman, said Tuesday he no longer considers cult founder Chizuo Matsumoto a god.
In an interview with Asahi Shimbun, Joyu said his mind is now independent of, but has not parted with, Matsumoto, who is also known as Shoko Asahara.
However, Joyu still referred to Matsumoto as sonshi (holy guru), a title of respect.
Joyu, 37, the No. 2 leader in Aum's hierarchy, was released from prison on Dec. 29 after serving a three-year prison term for perjury.
At the cult's branch in Yokohama's Naka Ward, Joyu appeared in a gray suit and sat in front of an altar for the interview.
He spoke calmly, compared to his previous rapid-fire style of speech.
Q: The cult announced that Matsumoto may have been involved in a series of crimes. What do you think?
A: I myself believe that he was involved. I was never told anything from sonshi, but I assumed so from the testimonies of my friends at court hearings.
Q: Do you still believe in Matsumoto?
A: My feelings changed when I was imprisoned. We had considered Asahara-sonshi a god because he was a savior according to the doctrines of his prophecies. The prophecies should have become real in 1997 and 1999, but we are now in 2000.
I no longer feel that I can rely on sonshi. That's why we can now make a total reform.
Q: But do Aum followers still believe in Matsumoto?
A: The arrest of sonshi worked as a denial in considering him a god. He is no longer in our group, and his words in court are difficult to understand. I do not think there are still followers who really believe he is a god.
Q: You call Matsumoto ``sonshi.'' Have you really parted with him?
A: I have become independent, but have not parted with him. I call him sonshi because I respect him as a meditator (and not as a god).
Q: After the crimes, you were the cult's emergency headquarters chief. Why did you talk about things that were not true?
A: I wanted to protect our organization rather than investigating the true facts, so we did not investigate ourselves. I do not intend to hide from that responsibility.
Q: Why is Aum reorganizing instead of ceasing its activities?
A: If we dissolved our group we would be accused of trying to avoid the newly enacted (anti-Aum) law and the compensation we must pay.
There are still followers who think the crimes were not good but want to continue their practices of Aum's yoga. So we intend to restart with refreshed minds.
Q: Aum said the new organization will be operated by a board of about 10 members. Where do you fit in?
A: I will not be involved directly. My role will be to advise when consulted. In the former Aum, those who were in the high religious stages had the supreme authority and the absolute power. This may have been the background of the crimes. So I want to provide a key to make the organization more democratic.
Q: Considering your previous position in the cult, aren't you going to play a virtual leadership role?
A: I returned my status of seitaishi (Aum's second-highest stage) as a symbol of decentralizing power. It was not simply for show.
Now is not the time when we can seek something `of sonshi, by sonshi, for sonshi.' The new organization should not have its power concentrated in one leader. It should be a group `of us, by us, for us.'''
Q: What about the many people who do not trust what you say?
A: There may be those who cannot trust me, but I have to do things, such as making compensation.
Q: Are you going to stay in the Yokohama branch?
A: I don't intend to live here. But I also do not want to take along the fuss (surrounding me) to where I move. I want to ask people's understanding.

TOKYO, Jan. 18 (Kyodo) - Aleph, a company affiliated with the AUM Shinrikyo cult, registered the address of the cult's Yokohama branch as its new address in November last year, sources close to the company said Tuesday.
Aleph, which will also be the cult's new name as it announced Tuesday, changed its registered address from Tokyo's Suginami Ward to the second floor of a condominium in downtown Yokohama, just southwest of Tokyo, the sources said.
The Yokohama branch is an important base for the cult and where 37-year-old Fumihiro Joyu, a senior AUM member and former spokesman, is staying. Joyu returned to the cult last month after serving a three-year prison term for perjury.
The police are interested in the relationship between the cult's new name and the company, a forerunner of which they raided in 1995 on suspicion of violating arms-control lawsThe cult's public-relations personnel said the new name has nothing to do with the company. The cult said it will change its name to Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in hopes of a new start.
Aleph is the only company recognized by the cult as its affiliate. It manages donations to the cult and runs AUM seminars, cult officials said.
According to its register, the company conducts business in computer-parts sales, delivery services, warehousing and travel. Senior members of the cult serve as executives of the company.
The company was established under a different name in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, in 1994. It served as a travel agent when a college club related to AUM visited Russia, where the cult is believed to have had contact with Russian military personnel.
The company changed its name and moved to Suginami Ward in 1995. At the end of 1996 it renamed itself Aleph.
The cult unveiled a reform plan earlier in the day that includes the liquidation of the group's assets and the changing its name from AUM to Aleph.
The cult also admitted Tuesday the involvement of its founder and leader Shoko Asahara in a series of crimes, including the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.

TOKYO (AP) - The doomsday cult behind the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways said Tuesday it would reorganize itself and change its name.
Aum Shinri Kyo also admitted for the first time that its charismatic founder, Shoko Asahara, was involved in the gassing that killed 12 and sickened thousands, according to a statement sent to local media.
The 44-year-old former guru is on trial for masterminding the sarin gas attack. He also is being tried in the deaths of several cult members, his family, and a lawyer who had been investigating the cult.
In Tuesday's statement, the cult said it was sorry for its crimes and that it intended to pay compensation to victims and their families.
``We deeply apologize to the victims and their families, while at the same time recognizing our own responsibility as members of the group,'' the statement said.
As part of its plans to ``drastically reorganize,'' the cult said it would change its name to ``Aleph,'' the statement said. The word is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
In addition, acting leader Tatsuko Muraoka will take over as head of the cult, the statement said.

Aum Shinri-kyo and Related Controversies

"Japan Sect's Name Change Brings Confusion and Fear"

Kidnapped Son of Cult Leader Found

"Asahara's 7-year-old son rescued in Hakone inn"

"Japan police seek 5 suspects in guru's son kidnap"

"Police arrest 2nd AUM follower over abduction"

"Police search two AUM facilities following abduction case"

"Police to arrest Asahara's daughters over abduction of brother"

"Japan Gas-Attack Sect Linked to Abduction"

"Cultists kidnap Asahara's son"

"Japan's police raid "dangerous" cult"

"Crackdown not needed as threat has gone, says cult"

"Dissidents fail in bid to snatch son of deposed Japanese cult leader"

"Son of Japan doomsday cult guru kidnapped"

"Police search AUM facilities at 12 sites"

"AUM says anti-cult law violates rights"

"AUM seeks rejection of approval to apply new monitoring law"

"Japan doomsday cult says poses no danger"

"Security panel opens hearing over monitoring of AUM cult"

"Japan cult causes stir with name change"

"New AUM title riles namesakes"

"Aum gets right to respond to cult crackdown plan"

"Murderous sect changes name"

"Japanese Victims Get Apology From Cult"

"Aum Cult to Use Believers' Salaries for Compensation, NHK Says"

"School tells universities it has nothing to do with AUM"

"Japan doomsday cult pledges to practice democracy"

"Poison Gas Group in Japan Distances Itself From Guru"

"AUM blames Asahara"

"Joyu says founder a god no more [Asahi Shimbun Interviews Aum's New Leader Joyu]"

"AUM-affiliated company registered Yokohama branch as address"

"Japan Doomsday Cult Reorganizing"