1st Edition
Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan The Case of Aum Shinrikyo
By Ian Reader
Copyright 2000
304 Pages
by
Routledge
320 Pages
by
Routledge
320 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
The Tokyo subway attack in March 1995 was just one of a series of criminal activities including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and the illegal manufacture of arms and drugs carried out by the Japanese new religious movement Aum Shinrikyo, under the guidance of its leader Asahara Shoko. Reader looks at Aum's claims about itself and asks, why did a religious movement ostensibly focussed on yoga,... Read more
Introduction ??; 1: A Death in the Culture of Coercive Asceticism – Killing for Salvation, Religious Violence and Aum Shinriky? ?; 2: Compassionate Cruelty and the Cosmic Struggle – The Life and Nature of Asahara Sh?k? ??; 3: Creation, Preservation and Destruction – The Development and Nature of the Religion of Supreme Truth ?; 4: The World of the True Victors – The Motivations, Experiences and Practices of Asahara's Followers ?; 5: Losing the Struggle – From World Salvation to World Destruction, 1988–1990 ??; 6: Perpetual Conflict, Foreign Excursions and Cosmic Wars – Conspiracies, Retribution and the Right to Kill ??; 7: The Violence of the Lambs – Murder; Chaos, Vengeance, Power and Immortality ?; 8: Concluding Comments – Aum Shinriky? and Religious Violence ?
Biography
Ian Reader
'One of the strengths of this study is the careful analysis of primary sources Reader has provided us with an illuminating account of how and why one Japanese religion turned violent. This is not just a book for students of Japanese religion, however. The comparisons and parallels notet between Aum and other new religious movements that have been closely associated with violent eruptions will make this study of interest to many scholars and concerned individuals outside of the field of Japanese studies.' - Mark R. Mullins, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
