ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how online representations can potentially impact how religious groups and their leaders are portrayed and understood and how online interactions can potentially reshape the relationship between leaders and members. The first issue to be considered in discussing these offline/online interactions is that the online communications of Hikari no Wa cannot be fully understood without considering the specific historical background of Aum-related groups and representations of their leaders. The Internet is not some place "other", but needs to be understood in its relationship with other media and offline activities. The website also included the development of a "Net Dj", recently renamed as "Net Classroom" to promote specifically online religious activities, related to the idea expressed at the time by Jy Fumihiro that the 21st century will be the place for Internet religion. The interaction between Jy and users online also raises some important issues related to religious authority.
