They were not yet born when one of the most heinous crimes in Japanese history was committed. They knew nothing of the crisis, confusion and loss that gripped Japan, as the March 20, 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system sent a country that prided itself on safety into a bout of deep soul-searching.

With no firsthand experience of the atrocity orchestrated by the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult -- an act that killed 13 people and left over 6,000 ill -- three Japanese university students have produced a documentary about Shizue Takahashi, the wife of one of the victims who died in the attack.

One of the most recognizable faces among the sarin gas victims' families, Takahashi, 71, is the go-to person for media on AUM-related issues. For 23 years, she has been at the forefront in the fight for justice and support for victims and families. Much has been said and reported about her.

But the 18-minute film does not have the sober tone that often accompanies a documentary tackling such a heavy topic. Neither does it touch on the dangers of cults nor efforts to prevent an incident of this kind from happening again.

Instead, Miyu Kurihara, 21, Mayuko Tsuda, 20, and Sakura Mukojima, 20, chose to take an up-close and personal look at Takahashi as an ordinary housewife and mother, filming her in Tokyo's Kitasenju district where her family lived and listening to her thoughts about her deceased husband Kazumasa.

The documentary titled "Kyo Mo Anata To Isshoni" (roughly translated as "With You Again Today") opens with a light-hearted scene showing Takahashi eating eel with Mukojima, and introduces viewers to a woman whose life as an ordinary 48-year-old housewife was forever changed by the attack.

"Our goal was to show it to friends and have it spread around," Kurihara says.

(Paramedics tend to sarin gas attack victims as chaos ensues outside Tsukiji metro station.)

Footage shows Takahashi laughing, smiling and relaxed, unlike her public persona as a representative of a victims' support group. Her husband, 50 at the time of the attack, was the deputy stationmaster at Kasumigaseki Station. He died after picking up one of the plastic bags that contained sarin.

Tsuda, who attended the annual meeting of victims and supporters last year with Kurihara, recalls how she initially felt intimidated by Takahashi as the group's representative. "But that was a stereotype. Once I got to talk to her, she was just like any other grandmother," she says.

The two thought it a pity that people did not know the other, warmer side of Takahashi. Moved by issues such as people suffering from the aftereffects of sarin and post-traumatic stress disorder, the pair invited Mukojima to join the film project.

The three studied about the sarin attack in a seminar under Hiroaki Mizushima, a professor in journalism at Sophia University. The documentary was completed last year and received awards in local film festivals. It can be viewed on YouTube.

"I felt that we should think of (the AUM case) as something that concerns ourselves. The more we do that, the better we are able to absorb what happened," Kurihara says.

This year's gathering, held the weekend before the 23rd anniversary, introduced discussion groups for attendees.

Yuichi Hara, one of the Tokyo police officers who investigated the incident, recalled the agony of young AUM followers who were unable to leave the cult, while Takahashi gave an overview of her struggle to come to terms with the incident.

"I definitely want those who were not born then, those who were just babies, to know about it," she stresses.

(Self-Defense Force workers decontaminate a subway car infected by sarin. Photo courtesy of Japan Ground SDF)

To pass on the memory of the attack and lessons learned to the next generation, she agreed to be featured in the documentary.

The three students were among several young attendees at this year's event. During discussions, they stressed that such interactions must continue through generations.

Tsuda, who facilitated one of the discussion groups, says that while the attack was covered in her textbooks growing up, it wasn't until her involvement in the film, and through Mizushima's seminar and attending gatherings, that the topic became closer to home.

Tsuda now finds herself turning her attention to AUM-related coverage, including last week's news on the transfer of seven of the former cult members on death row from the Tokyo detention center to other facilities, a move seen as bringing their executions closer.

Now Tsuda hopes that like her, more young people will take even a little interest in the case.

For Mukojima, who attended the gathering for the first time, Hara's talk revealing behind-the-scenes accounts of the arrests of AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other cult members was informative.

"We are of a generation that was not born (then) so I felt that we must know more about this," she says, urging her generation not to be indifferent, especially since the attack occurred in Japan.

She adds that learning more about the AUM case made her realize that anyone could be a victim. "What we have come to accept everyday as commonplace could unexpectedly disappear."

(Moment of silence is observed at Kasumigaseki subway station on the 23rd anniversary of AUM Shinrikyo cult's sarin attack.)

AUM has renamed itself Aleph. There is also a splinter group called Hikarinowa and another breakaway group from Aleph said to be devoted to Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto. The Public Security Intelligence Agency says there are about 1,650 believers in the three groups.

Mukojima says she is concerned about that number and wants to hear from young people about why they were drawn to these groups.

While the trio does not have any plans to make a sequel about Takahashi, Kurihara is interested in examining mind control or how AUM could be viewed in the light of terrorist groups such as Islamic State, which also manipulate people through religion to justify terrorist acts.

"To approach (the AUM issue) with a universal theme could spark interest in more people," she says. "And as a result, this could lead (to a desire to) never forget this incident."


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Japan marks 23rd anniv. of Tokyo subway sarin attack

Death row Aum cult members shipped out of Tokyo before execution