Channing's review
Underground
by Haruki Murakami
Channing's review
Underground by Haruki Murakami
Channing's review
rating:
An amazing book.
In 1995, Aum Shinrikyo, a cult group lead by Shoko Asahara, carried out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. 12 people were killed and another 4-5,000 were injured. Asahara was a failed acupuncturist (and interestingly, an anime and manga fanatic) who decided to pull an L. Ron Hubbard and invent a religion for fun and profit. Borrowing aspects of Mahayana Buddhism, yoga, Taoism, and the anime series "Space Cruiser Yamato" (known in the US as "Star Blazers"), Asahara created a seriously warped quasi-religion in which a few chosen people would cause a series of catastrophes that would destroy modern Japan and bring about the next incarnation of the Buddha who would save and redeem humanity. The Tokyo subway attack was intended to be the opening chapter in Asahara's bizarre plan.
An interesting footnote is that Asahara frequently preached against eating fried foods, as they were a nefarious tool of an international Judeo-Freemason consp...more
In 1995, Aum Shinrikyo, a cult group lead by Shoko Asahara, carried out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. 12 people were killed and another 4-5,000 were injured. Asahara was a failed acupuncturist (and interestingly, an anime and manga fanatic) who decided to pull an L. Ron Hubbard and invent a religion for fun and profit. Borrowing aspects of Mahayana Buddhism, yoga, Taoism, and the anime series "Space Cruiser Yamato" (known in the US as "Star Blazers"), Asahara created a seriously warped quasi-religion in which a few chosen people would cause a series of catastrophes that would destroy modern Japan and bring about the next incarnation of the Buddha who would save and redeem humanity. The Tokyo subway attack was intended to be the opening chapter in Asahara's bizarre plan.
An interesting footnote is that Asahara frequently preached against eating fried foods, as they were a nefarious tool of an international Judeo-Freemason consp...more
