Survivors and the families of the victims are still looking for closure 30 years after the deadly Tokyo subway gas attack.

Survivors and the families of those who lost loved ones are still fighting for justice thirty years after the deadly sarin nerve gas attack in Tokyo’s subway system.

On March 20, 1995, cult members spewed sarin nerve gas into the capital’s subway trains, killing 13 people and sickening thousands more. In Japan, a nation renowned for its low crime rate, the attack continues to rank among the most horrifying atrocities.

Since then, the cult known as Aum Shinrikyo, or Supreme Truth, has broken up. In 2018, Shoko Asahara, its founder, and twelve of his followers were put to death.

However, 1,600 former members continue to function under different names and have disregarded a directive to compensate survivors and their families.

Shizue Takahashi lost her husband, a deputy station master, in the attack. The couple was just starting to enjoy time to themselves after raising three children when tragedy struck.

“My life is still being ruined by Aum and its successor groups,” said Takahashi, 78. “We need to carry on and not let the memories fade.”

At 8 a.m. during the morning rush, five cult members got on separate train cars on three subway lines converging at Kasumigaseki, Japan’s government center, each dropping bags of sarin on the train floors. They punctured the bags with umbrellas, releasing the gas inside the train cars.

Within minutes, commuters poured out of the trains onto the platforms, rubbing their eyes and gasping for air. Some collapsed. Others fled onto the streets where ambulances and rescue workers in hazmat suits gave first-aid.

Kazumasa Takahashi didn’t know the puddle he was cleaning on the subway car floor was sarin. He collapsed as he removed a bag — a sacrifice some survivors say saved lives — and never woke up.

The attack sickened more than 6,000. A 14th victim died in 2020 after battling severe after-effects.

According to Yuji Nakamura, a lawyer for the survivors and the families of the victims, the subway gassing occurred after a poorly conducted police investigation failed to connect the cult to previous crimes. He stated, “It could have been avoided.”

Tokyo police raided Aum’s headquarters near Mount Fuji, where the cultists lived, trained, and produced sarin, two days after the gassing. They were armed with a caged canary to detect poison. Asahara was discovered in a secret room.

Aum Shinrikyo was founded in 1984 by Asahara, who was born Chizuo Matsumoto in 1955. The cult drew in young people who were fed up with materialism by fusing Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and yoga. He defended murder as a virtue and taught that dying could improve their spirits.