Thursday marks the 30th anniversary of the sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system carried out by the Aum Shinrikyo cult.



Members of the cult released the highly toxic substance inside trains running on three subway lines on March 20, 1995. Fourteen people died and about 6,300 others were injured.



Thirteen members of the former cult's leadership, including the leader, Asahara Shoko, whose real name was Matsumoto Chizuo, were sentenced to death for crimes including the sarin gas attack. Their executions took place in 2018.



Meanwhile, three successor groups of Aum Shinrikyo are continuing their activities. They are under surveillance in accordance with a law aimed at preventing acts of indiscriminate mass murder. The Public Security Intelligence Agency continues to raid their facilities to this day.



Against this backdrop, calls are growing among bereaved family members and other people affected by the attack to pass on to future generations the lessons learned from the unprecedented terror attack.



The calls come as younger generations today have little knowledge of the incident.



A special stand will be set up at Kasumigaseki subway station on Thursday to allow mourners to offer flowers at the scene of one of the attacks. Silent prayers will be offered at 8 a.m., around the time the attack occurred.