Today marks the eighteenth anniversary of the Aum Shin Rikyo's sarin attack on the Tokyo Metro lines. It is the first year since it happened that none of the people wanted for committing the crime are still on the loose. The remaining two were arrested last year. The fatalities may seem relatively low at 13, but more than 1000 people were injured. For many who survived their injuries were extreme and gruesome - in some cases contact lenses melted into people's eyes.
Hiro was on a business trip in America the day it happened. He would usually have exited the subway at Kamiyacho, one stop after Kasumigaseki on the Hibiya line at around the time the attacks occurred.
Today is also the equinox, marking the March grave visiting season, ohigan. This year, the cherry blossoms are blooming early and today walking through Yanaka cemetery, the cherry blossoms met the ohigan flowers. Sakura certainly makes for cheerier grave visiting. (compare last year's ohigan)
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| Aum Wanted Poster http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/83/Sarin_Wanted_Poster.jpg |
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| The beginning of Sakura blossoms & ohigan flowers |
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| Sakura |
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