Photo/Illutration Items seized by police in May from an affiliate of Aleph, a splinter group of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, include an illustration that resembles Chizuo Matsumoto, the executed founder of the cult. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Supreme Court ended a sibling battle over the remains of mass murderer Chizuo Matsumoto but did not dispel concerns about the possible continued influence of the executed founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.

The top court’s decision, dated July 2, upheld a lower court ruling that his hair and remains should go to his second daughter and rejected the appeal of Matsumoto’s fourth daughter.

Matsumoto was known as Shoko Asahara when he led Aum Shinrikyo, a now-disbanded cult whose followers committed a series of crimes, including the sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in March 1995 that killed 14 people and sickened 6,000.

The cult’s teachings included some elements of Buddhism. Public security officials are concerned that Matsumoto’s remains, like Buddha’s ashes, could become an object of worship for followers of Aum’s splinter groups.

The fourth daughter, who had reportedly kept a distance from the cult, asserted that she wanted her father’s remains ground into powder and then dispersed in the sea. That would have prevented the remains from being put in one area as a place of worship.

A lawyer for the second daughter also said she has no intention of allowing the remains to be used for worship.

But given the murderous rampage committed by Aum members under Matsumoto’s leadership, public security authority officials are still concerned about how the remains will be handled.

The Supreme Court did not make available details for its decision.

Matsumoto’s remains and hair have been kept at the Tokyo Detention House since he was hanged in July 2018 after he was convicted of multiple murders and other crimes.

The fourth daughter had argued in court that Matsumoto, just before he was executed, named her as the one to receive his remains.

But the Tokyo Family Court ruled last year that the second daughter should receive the remains because she had the “closest” relationship with Matsumoto among family members. The ruling cited her repeated visits to her father while he was incarcerated.

In dismissing the fourth daughter’s argument, the family court said it was difficult to conclude that Matsumoto’s words to her were a “definitive expression of his intent,” given his psychiatric condition and his enormous difficulty in communicating with others.

The Tokyo High Court upheld the family court’s decision when it dismissed the fourth daughter’s appeal.

After the Supreme Court rejected the fourth daughter’s final appeal, her lawyer, Taro Takimoto, said it is extremely regrettable.

“The court did not pay respect to the important right of self-determination,” he said in a statement.

Atsushi Anzai, a lawyer for the second daughter, said the ruling showed that the top court gave utmost consideration to his client’s wishes to mourn quietly for her father.

“The second daughter has had nothing to do with Aum Shinrikyo and its splinter groups,” he said. “She had asserted in court proceedings that she has no wishes whatsoever for his remains to be used for religious and political purposes.”

Three splinter groups were formed after Aum Shinrikyo was disbanded. Together, they have more than 1,650 lay followers and 31 facilities in Tokyo and 14 other prefectures, according to the Public Security Intelligence Agency.

One of them is Aleph, which is based in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture.

The others are the Circle of Rainbow Light, based in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, and Yamadara no Shudan (the group of Yamada and others), based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture’s capital.

Related News