Too dangerous to document?

FILMMAKER TATSUYA MORI MAY finally get the wide audience he has sought for his documentaries A and A2. It has been over eight years since the 1995 sarin nerve gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system killed 12 people and injured 5,000 others. Recent court appearances by Aura Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara have been a brutal reminder of the horrors. And if rental volume at Tsutaya, one of Japan's largest video rental shops, is any indication, Japanese society is ready to begin reexamining its subsequent dealings with Aura Shinrikyo members.

Mori's films provide an inside view of the daily lives of Aura members, their interactions with the Japanese media, the police, angry "not-in-my-backyard" neighbors and right-wing faction members. Although the video versions are only available in Japanese, the DVDs will be released with English subtitles.

The first film, A, was released in 1998, but has gone largely unseen by Japanese audiences.

Although Tsutaya rents A and A2 (recently ranked number two in Tsutaya's new item rental ranking), the rental chain store refuses to sell them, Mori says, because it fears being held liable if viewers join the cult as a result of seeing the video.

Mori claims a high-ranking executive at satellite broadcaster Wowow recently offered to show the films on his network. Mori provided copies of the documentaries for Wowow's screening committee to review. Their reaction was neither one of rejection nor acceptance. Instead, Mori says, the committee said they would pretend they had never even seen the films. In the same way, Japanese society seemed to turn a blind eye to any mention of Aum (now called "Aleph") that doesn't convey it as evil incarnate.

Shortly after the subway attacks, Mori was the only member of the press who requested permission from Aum to film a documentary about the everyday activities of its members. Fuji TV, for whom he was freelancing at the time, demanded footage portraying Aum in an exclusively negative light. When Mori refused, he was fired and continued filming on his own.

To many Japanese who have been exposed to years of Aura demonizing by media outlets, the mundane scenes of daily life in the cult are quietly disturbing.

There are also plenty of confrontations and noisy exchanges to capture viewers' attention. (For instance, anyone who believes that a Japanese police officer would never assault a law-abiding citizen will be in for a rude awakening.)

Mori claims that Japanese officials appear more interested in seeing Aum's Shoko Asahara put to death than in administering justice. He notes that Asahara's defense lawyers have not yet had the cult leader psychoanalyzed out of fear that they will be "bashed" for potentially allowing him to elude capital punishment.

Given that Asahara's courtroom demeanor--which has reportedly included an explanation in English that he was onboard the Starship Enterprise--could be manufactured in order to mitigate his punishment, an examination would ordinarily be undertaken, Mori says.

A common expression in Japan is deru kugi wa utareru ("the nail that sticks out gets hammered down"). Eight years after Japan tried to use a sledgehammer to pound the Aum nail, Mori's films may convince the country to examine the subsequent damage.

* MARK MCCRAKEN has lived in the Kansai area of Japan for 13 years. When he's not working on completing his Master's Degree in Education, Mark enjoys making margaritas, eating sweet Japanese watermelon, teaching English, working for a translation company, visiting Universal Studios Japan and writing for J@pan Inc. His first book, 25 Business Skills in English, was recently published. His last article for the magazine appeared in September.