ABSTRACT

Any discussion of the factors shaping attitudes to, and patterns of conflict over, new religious movements (NRMs) in Japan today, has to be conducted in the light of the activities of Aum Shinrikyō. For Japanese society, the “Aum affair” raised the specter of a legally registered religious organization enjoying freedom of worship, legal protection, and religious tax exemptions and yet abusing these privileges to finance the manufacture of chemical weapons and commit heinous crimes.