Covers the 1995 Tokyo Gas Attack, during which agents of a Japanese cult released sarin gas into the subway system, as documented in interviews with its survivors, perpetrators, and victims's family members In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world. On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere. Map of the Tokyo Subway xi PART ONE UNDERGROUND Preface 3(6) Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Chiyoda Line 9(50) Nobody was dealing with things calmly 12(7) Kiyoka Izumi I've been here since I first joined 19(7) Masaru Yuasa At that point Takahashi was still alive 26(4) Minoru Miyata I'm not a sarin victim, I'm a survivor 30(10) Toshiaki Toyoda It's not even whether or not to take the subway, just to go out walking scares me now 40(5) Tomoko Takatsuki The day after the gas attack, I asked my wife for a divorce 45(5) Mitsuteru Izutsu Luckily I was dozing off 50(4) Aya Kazaguchi Everyone loves a scandal 54(5) Hideki Sono Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Marunouchi Line (Destination: Ogikubo) 59(45) I felt like I was watching a program on TV 63(3) Mitsuo Arima Looking back, it all started because the bus was two minutes early 66(8) Kenji Ohashi That day and that day only I took the first door 74(4) Soichi Inagawa If I hadn't been there, somebody else would have picked up the packets 78(6) Sumio Nishimura I was in pain, yet I still bought my milk as usual 84(3) Koichi Sakata The night before the gas attack, the family was saying over dinner, ``My, how lucky we are'' 87(9) Tatsuo Akashi ``Ii-yu-nii-an. [Disneyland]'' 96(8) Shizuko Akashi Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Marunouchi Line (Destination: Ikebukuro) 104(14) ``What can that be?'' I thought 107(5) Shintaro Komada I knew it was sarin 112(6) Ikuko Nakayama Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line (Departing: Naka-meguro) 118(25) ``What if you never see your grandchild's face?'' 121(6) Hiroshige Sugazaki I had some knowledge of sarin 127(5) Kozo Ishino I kept shouting, ``Please, please, please!'' in Japanese 132(6) Michael Kennedy That kind of fright is something you never forget 138(5) Yoko Iizuka Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line (Departing: Kita-senju: Destination: Naka-meguro) 143(81) I'd borrowed the down payment, and my wife was expecting---it looked pretty bad 146(4) Noburu Terajima In a situation like that the emergency services aren't much help at all 150(4) Masanori Okuyama Ride the trains every day and you know what's regular air 154(5) Michiaki Tamada Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line Some crazy's probably sprinkled pesticides or something 159(5) Takanori Ichiba We'll never make it. If we wait for the ambulance we're done for 164(6) Naoyuki Ogata It'd be pathetic to die like this 170(7) Michiru Kono The day of the gas attack was my sixty-fifth birthday 177(6) Kei'ichi Ishikura Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Kodemmacho Station I saw his face and thought: ``I've seen this character somewhere'' 183(8) Ken'ichi Yamazaki He was such a kind person. He seemed to get even kinder before he died 191(11) Yoshiko Wada, widow of Eiji Wada He was an undemanding child 202(7) Kichiro Sanae Wada Eiji Wada Sarin! Sarin! 209(6) Koichiro Makita The very first thing that came to mind was poison gas---cyanide or sarin 215(5) Dr. Toru Saito There is no prompt and efficient system in Japan for dealing with a major catastrophe 220(4) Dr. Nobuo Yanagisawa Where Are We Japanese Going? 224(135) Blind Nightmare PART TWO THE PLACE THAT WAS PROMISED Preface 247(4) I'm still in Aum 251(14) Hiroyuki Kano Nostradamus had a great influence on my generation 265(12) Akio Namimura Each individual has his own image of the Master 277(15) Mitsuharu Inaba This was like an experiment using human beings 292(12) Hajime Masutani In my previous life I was a man 304(13) Miyuki Kanda ``If I stay here,'' I thought, ``I'm going to die'' 317(16) Shin'ichi Hosoi Asahara tried to force me to have sex with him 333(13) Harumi Iwakura No matter how grotesque a figure Asahara appears, I can't just dismiss him 346(13) Hidetoshi Takahashi Afterword 359(6) Appendix 365