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Underground ::
On March 20, 1995, five high ranking members of the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult entered the Tokyo train system at different points. They boarded their trains, sat down and waited. At a pre-determined time, they punctured the newspaper-wrapped bags of fluid they carried with them with the sharpened tip of their umbrellas. They then left the trains at the next stop. Slowly, the remaining people on the trains became ill. They began coughing, then their pupils became constricted. Chaos began to build throughout the city, and Japan was soon facing one of the most significant instances of terrorism in their history. Though very few people died in the attack (in comparison to the number of people exposed), many were reduced to a vegetative state, and still more were forced to bear emotional scars and trauma for the rest of their lives. The chaos of that day is unimaginable for anyone who did not experience it.
The Tokyo Gas Attack was portrayed was portrayed by Japanese health care organization as a challenge which was overcome by fast thinking as good communication. It was portrayed by the media (both in the country and internationally) as a clear-cut battle between the innocent victims of the attack and the perfectly evil perpetrators. However, nowhere else, outside of Underground, do we have an opportunity to hear the stories of the people who survived the attack. In this book, not only does Murakami get the accounts of victims, but he also interviews people involved with the Aum cult (who where not involved with the gas attack). The end result of all these interviews is a very complex, multidimensional tapestry of narratives, which reveals not only the fear and heroism of those on the trains, but the loneliness and destitute feelings of those who were a part of the Aum cult. Reading it is an emotionally trying, chaotic and nearly incomprehensible experience.
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