Aum Shinrikyou religious group

Recruitment of elite college students by Aum Shinrikyo

2. targeted universities and faculties

Aum Shinrikyo's main target was science and medical students from top universities. Aum Shinrikyō's senior leaders are all graduates of prestigious universities such as the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Osaka University.

... For example, Toru Toyoda, a graduate of the University of Tokyo, and Kenichi Hirose, a graduate of Waseda University, became key figures in Aum Shinrikyo's sarin and other poison gas production program as undersecretaries of the Ministry of Science and Technology, while Masami Tsuchiya, a graduate student at Tsukuba University, became Minister of the Second Ministry of Health and Welfare (chemical weapons development division) and directed the synthesis of highly poisonous sarin and VX gas. Seiichi Endo, as Minister of the First Ministry of Health and Welfare (in charge of biological weapons), attempted to create biological weapons such as anthrax culture. In addition, Hideo Murai, a graduate of Osaka University, was the number two in the Order and Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, overseeing the overall armament program, including the purchase of helicopters from Russia and research into laser weapons.

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