Lost Media: Fumihiro Joyu - The Heir to Aum Shinrikyo

The Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo was too big to die when it’s leader was arrested. After skirting the law through several murders and other crimes, Asahara was arrested in 1995 for his involvement in the Tokyo sarin gas attacks of 1995. The rest of his life played out as could be expected - he was sentenced to death in 2004, lost his final appeal in 2011, and finally executed on July 6th, 2018.

However, as much as a blow that the imprisonment of Asahara was, the estimated 65,000 members didn’t all want to disband from the cult. High ranking member, and former spokesperson and public relations manager Fumihiro Joyu would step up to fill the space left by Shoko Asahara. After serving a three year prison sentence himself, he would take charge of the congregation. Under this new leadership, the name Aum Shinrikyo was changed to Aleph - no doubt in order to disconnect this new branch from the controversy of the attacks. While Aelph would go on to split again in 2007, loosing even more of its members, Fumihiro Joyu will always remain a figure associated with Aum Shinrikyo and the sarin gas attacks they were globally known for.

Cult Collectibles has archived an interview with Fumihiro Joyu from a VHS tape. The interview, presented fully in Japanese, runs close to 3 hours in length. It features a one on one conversation between Joyu and an unknown reporter in what appears to be an Aum Shinrikyo office.

Below is the beginning shots of this footage.