Photo/Illutration Chizuo Matsumoto, who led the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult under the name of Shoko Asahara, is arrested on May 16, 1995, in Yamanashi Prefecture. (Provided by the Metropolitan Police Department)

The second daughter of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult leader, who was executed in 2018 for masterminding the deadly sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, is demanding the state turn over his remains and hair to her. 

She filed a lawsuit on Oct. 2 at Tokyo District Court against the central government, her lawyers said on Oct. 3. 

Chizuo Matsumoto, also known as Shoko Asahara, was hanged for his role in the March 20, 1995, sarin gas attacks on the capital’s subway system that killed 14 people and sickened thousands, as well as other acts of murder by his disciples, in July 2018.

It is believed that Matsumoto, shortly before the execution, designated his fourth daughter to be the recipient of his remains and other items.

But his second daughter has argued, “Based on his mental state, it is inconceivable for him to designate a particular person to be a recipient.”

His fourth daughter filed a lawsuit seeking her father's remains.

But the Tokyo Family Court said, “It is difficult to determine Matsumoto’s declaration of intent was final and conclusive,” and concluded that his relationship with his second daughter, who repeatedly requested to visit him, “was the strongest.”

The court said the ownership of his remains is in the hands of his second daughter. The Supreme Court finalized the decision in July 2021.

Public safety authorities have paid close attention to the case, fearing that his remains may become an object of worship for the followers of groups seen as an heir to the Aum Shinrikyo.

His fourth daughter has expressed her intention to scatter his ashes into the sea.

So some public safety officials have been concerned that the court’s decision that makes his second daughter and not his fourth daughter the recipient of his ashes will make matters unsettled.

A lawyer representing his second daughter said she left the cult in 2000 and has not kept in touch with the group since then.

She released a comment through her lawyer, “I don’t want my father’s ashes to be used politically, nor religiously. As his daughter, I just want to grieve silently and console his spirit.”

According to multiple sources, the government and the second daughter have discussed the handover of Matsumoto’s remains since July 2021.

The government has asked her if she will comply with the government’s request and regularly report the storage situation of his remains.

The government has told her that it needs her assurance before handing his remains to her.

But the daughter has refused because the judicial ruling was finalized and the government’s condition lacks a legal basis.

The daughter’s lawyer said that the court concluded that, “There is no accurate information that proves that she has a relationship with Aum Shinrikyo and its heir groups.”

The lawyer said the daughter “strongly thinks that she doesn’t want her father’s remains to be used by groups related to Aum Shinrikyo at all.”

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