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Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
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Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
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Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
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Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

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About this audiobook

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.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 3, 2013
ISBN9780804166713
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Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Makes Japanese society feel totally alien to me. I just cannot relate to the way people in this book think, despite this not being a work of fiction.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My wife and I read this toegther in Croatia, just before we were married. This a haunting work of journalism.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami is actually the English translation of two of Murakami's books, Underground and The Place That Was Promised, which was serialized under the title Post-Underground. Underground, initially published in Japan in 1997, collects interviews Murakami held with victims of the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo while The Place That Was Promised, released in 1998, collects interviews with members and ex-members of Aum Shinrikyo, the religious group responsible for the attack. The English translation of the two books by Alfred Birnbaum and Philip Gabriel was first published in 2000. The English edition doesn't explicitly state so, but I believe that it is an abridgement. The first book in particular, Underground, seems to be a shortened version of original Japanese edition.On Monday, March 20, 1995--a day falling between two holidays--select members of Aum Shinrikyo coordinated and executed a release of sarin gas, a highly toxic chemical weapon designed for military use, in various locations throughout the Tokyo subway system. Many people, including novelist Haruki Murakami, were frustrated and unhappy with the media's coverage of the attack and related events. The media tended to focus on Aum and the more sensational aspects of the incident, often trampling or completely ignoring the personal experiences of the victims. Partially in response to this, Murakami decided to pursue and conduct interviews and collect individuals' stories. Of the thousands of people immediately affected by the sarin gas attack, Murakami and his assistants were only able to positively identify around one hundred forty people. Still carrying emotional, psychological, and physical scars, even fewer were willing to be interviewed. In the end, only sixty people agreed to allow their interviews to be published.Thirty-four of these interviews are included in the first part of the book, "Underground." Murakami proceeds train by train, collecting similar stories together to create a more cohesive whole that allows the same events to be viewed from multiple perspectives. Each section of "Underground" begins with an overview of the Aum members who released the sarin gas in that particular location and a description of their actions. Before each individual interview, Murakami provides a brief introduction and personal commentary about that person. This allows their stories to not only be put in to the context of the events of March 20th, but into the context of their own personal histories and lives. These are not faceless individuals; they are real people who have lived through a terrible and traumatic episode, but this is not the only thing that defines them.In "The Place That Was Promised," Murakami interviews eight members of Aum Shinrikyo. Some of the interviewees were still members at the time while others had left or were excommunicated from the organization. None were directly involved with the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo underground. Neither did any of them condone the actions of their fellow members. It does help to already have some basic knowledge of Aum and its beliefs to fully understand these interviews. But even if you don't, what is revealed through their stories is that they are normal people, just like anyone else, who turned to religion out of frustration with the society around them. Murakami does tend to be more argumentative while interviewing the Aum members. Before reading Underground, I knew very little about the Tokyo sarin gas attack. While the event is unquestionably tragic, Murakami handles the interviews with respect and is careful not to exploit the stories that have been entrusted to him. Underground is an compelling oral history.Experiments in Manga
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The author interviewed many of the victims of the March 20, 1995, terrorists' placing of bags of sarin on Tokyo subway cars. Many of these victims said much the same thing and after reading some I did not think it was too helpful to read the many more interviewed. He also interviewed members of Aum, the group which was responsible for getting the sarin on the cars. I suppose this was valuable to show the mind set of the kind of persons attracted to the cult. I cannot say I could comprehend how the perpetrators figured this was a good thing, though they were in the cult and one knew some of the cult members would do what the persons contolling the cult wanted done, no matter how evil or stupid it was. Nothing in the book illuminates the thought process of the cult leaders. Since the event is so bizarre I suppose this book should be read, but that it was a book I lked to read cannot be said.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I picked up Underground as a recommendation by a coworker. She loved the book, and said it was in her Top 5. I am not quite as enthralled/passionate in all things Japan as she is, and knew very little about the Tokyo gas attacks. I decided to try it out, figuring that at the very least I could learn more about what happened. In short, while I am glad that I read it, I don't think I enjoyed it nearly as much as she did. The author Haruki Murakami provides an interesting account of the viewpoints and perspectives of the various people involved in the attacks. The first half of the book (which I understand was first published as a separate piece) focuses on interviews Murakami gives of different passengers, subway workers, family members, and doctors/emergency personnel. The second half involves conversations with the terrorist group Aum. I started out strong, but I think I lost a little steam when many of the interviews began to sound extremely similar - although I did appreciate the work Murakami put into the book to give each voice its own character/background. I found myself towards the second half of the book doing a little more skipping around and skimming the interviews. In my opinion, this is definitely a good book for someone interested in the Tokyo attacks specifically, or Japan culture in general. I will say that what I found most interesting was how the victims' overall reaction - especially those from the passengers themselves - differed so much from what I would expect should something like this happen in the U.S. Many people "smelled something weird," (later determined to be the poison gas), but simply covered their noses and stayed in their seats - even when people on the same train began to exhibit severe physical ailments, passing out, losing sight, etc. A common observation was that nobody rushed to the exit - much to the frustration of the subway employees - and even when discovering they were going blind/having trouble breathing, their mentality was "oh well, I need to get to work." Even the medical response was lackadaisical (few/no ambulances, doctors having to learn about what is happening through TV only, etc.) although many people seem to be extremely irritated about that. In this regard, the book provided an interesting comparison in culture, especially with regards to emergency response.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    "Underground" isn't always riveting stuff: much of the book consists of retelling the events of the Aum Shinriyko's nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. These accounts fit with Murakami's interest in straightforward, unembellished narrative, and I suppose comparisons to "Rashomon" are in order, but most readers probably won't notice or care too much about the small differences between these accounts. It's interesting see how profoundly even those victims who didn't suffer serious long-term physical effects from the sarin attack have been affected: Murakami may be right when he argues that this event triggered deep and powerful feelings in his country's national psyche. What's most interesting about them, from my perspective, anyway, is what they say about life in modern Japan. One of Murakami's stated aims in writing this book was to explore how the attack disrupted people's lives, and in that, he was largely successful. He also revealed, intentionally or otherwise, that the life of the average Tokyo resident is astonishingly busy and very work-centric: the biographies that Murakami's subjects provide could probably serve as informal résumés. Fittingly enough, the author argues that the cult that perpetrated the attack could be seen as a sort of mirror-image of a society that has become more more materialistic over the past few decades while leaving little room for those who might not want to do everything possible to advance their careers in a socially acceptable manner. Murakami notes that several of the cult's higher-ups had extremely successful careers before they abandoned them almost overnight to join Aum: it's possible that they wouldn't have taken such drastic measures if they had lived in a more flexible society. The second half of "Underground," which consists of interviews with former Aum members, will probably be of more interest to the average reader, perhaps because extraordinary evil, for better or for worse, seems to cast a spell that ordinary life can't quite compete with. The ex-members certainly paint an interesting portrait of the cult: it was strict in some ways, but remarkably forgiving in others. Its theology was a confusing new-age mishmash, and many of the members don't entirely regret their experiences with the group. I noticed that many of the former members share a rather logical cast of mind which sometimes contrasts oddly with their spiritual interests, though I suppose that it might explain why they found a cult that talked discussed spiritual advancement in terms of a precise hierarchy and seemed to have been organized like a multinational corporation appealing. It's also interesting to note the hold that Aum still has on many of its former members: many admit to keeping up relationships they made while in the cult and to still finding some of the group's meditative techniques useful. Their contact with the group, like that of their victims, seems to have very long-term implications. Even though most of the former cult members that Murakami interviews seem to have left the group before things got really dark, these interviews provide a startlingly matter-of-fact account of a demonstrably evil organization in action.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tokyo, Japan, 20 marts 1995.Indeholder "Part One: Underground", "Map of the Tokyo Subway", "Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Chiyoda Line", "Kiyoka Izumi: Nbody was dealing with things calmly", "Masaru Yuasa: I've been here since I first joned", "Minoru Miyata: At that point Takahashi was still alive", "Toshiaki Toyoda: I'm not a sarin victim, I'm a survivor", "Tomoko Takatsuki: It's not even whether or not to take the subway, just to go out walking now scares me", "Mitsuteru Izutsu: The day after the gas attack, I asked my wife for a divorce", "Aya Kazaguchi: Luckily I was dozing off", "Hideki Sono: Everyone loves a scandal", "Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Marunouchi Line (Destination: Ogikubo)", "Mitsuo Arima: I felt like I was watching a programme on TV", "Kenji Ohashi: Looking back, it all started because the bus was two minuts early", "Soichi Inagawa: That day and that day only, I took the firs door", "Sumio Nishimura: If I hadn't been there, somebody else would have picked up the packets", "Koichi Sakata: I was in pain, yet I still bought my milk as usual", "Tatsuo Akashi: The night before the gas attack, the family was saying over dinner, 'My, how lucky we are'", "Shizuk Akashi: Ii-yu-nii-an (Disneyland)", "Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Marunouchi Line (Destination: Ikebukuro)", "Shintaro Komada: 'What can that be?' I thought", "Ikuko Nakayama: I knew it was sarin", "Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line (Departing: Naka-Meguro)", "Hiroshige Sugazaki: 'What if you never see your grandchild's face?'", "Kozo Ishino: I had some knowledge of sarin", "Michael Kennedy: I kept shouting 'Please, please, please!' in Japanese", "Yoko Iizuka: That kind of fright is something you never forget.", "Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line (Departing: Kita-Senju; Destination: Naka-Meguro)", "Noburu Terajima I'd borrowed the down payment, and my wife was expecting - it looked pretty bad", "Masanori Okuyama: In a situation like that the emergency services aren't much help at all", "Michiaki Tamada: Ride the trains every day and you know what's regular air", "Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line", "Takanori Ichiba: Some loony's probably sprinkled pesticides or something", "Naoyuki Ogata: We'll never make it. It we wait for the ambulance we're done for", "Michiru Kono: It'd be patetic to die like this", "Kei'ichi Ishikura: The day of the gas attack was my sixty-fifth birthday", "Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Kodemmacho Station", "Ken'ichi Yamazaki: I saw his face and thought: 'I've seen this character somewhere'", "Yoshiko Wada, widow of Eiji Wada: He was such a kind person. He seemed to get even kinder before he died", "Kichiro Wada, Sanaé Wada, parents of Eiji Wada: He was an understanding child", "Koichiro Makita: Sarin! Sarin!", "Dr. Toru Saito: The very first thing that came to mind was poison gas - cyanide or sarin", "Dr. Nobuo Yanagisawa: There is no prompt and efficient system in Japan for dealing with a major catastrophe", "Blind Nightmare: Where Are We Japanese Going?", "art Two: The Place That Was Promised", "Preface", "Hiroyuki Kano: I am still in Aum", "Akio Namimura: Nostradamus had a great influence on my generation", "Mitsuharu Inaba: Each individual has his own image of the Master", "Hajimi Masutani: This was like an experiment using human beings", "Miyuki Kanda: In my previous life I was a man", "Shinichi Hosoi: 'If I stay here,' I thought, 'I'm going to die'", "Harumi Iwaura: Asahara tried to force me to have sex with him", "Hidetoshi Takahashi: No matter how grotesque a figure Asahara appears, I can't just dismiss him", "Afterword"."Part One: Underground" handler om ???"Map of the Tokyo Subway" handler om ???"Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Chiyoda Line" handler om ???"Kiyoka Izumi: Nbody was dealing with things calmly" handler om ???"Masaru Yuasa: I've been here since I first joned" handler om ???"Minoru Miyata: At that point Takahashi was still alive" handler om ???"Toshiaki Toyoda: I'm not a sarin victim, I'm a survivor" handler om ???"Tomoko Takatsuki: It's not even whether or not to take the subway, just to go out walking now scares me" handler om ???"Mitsuteru Izutsu: The day after the gas attack, I asked my wife for a divorce" handler om ???"Aya Kazaguchi: Luckily I was dozing off" handler om ???"Hideki Sono: Everyone loves a scandal" handler om ???"Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Marunouchi Line (Destination: Ogikubo)" handler om ???"Mitsuo Arima: I felt like I was watching a programme on TV" handler om ???"Kenji Ohashi: Looking back, it all started because the bus was two minuts early" handler om ???"Soichi Inagawa: That day and that day only, I took the firs door" handler om ???"Sumio Nishimura: If I hadn't been there, somebody else would have picked up the packets" handler om ???"Koichi Sakata: I was in pain, yet I still bought my milk as usual" handler om ???"Tatsuo Akashi: The night before the gas attack, the family was saying over dinner, 'My, how lucky we are'" handler om ???"Shizuk Akashi: Ii-yu-nii-an (Disneyland)" handler om ???"Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Marunouchi Line (Destination: Ikebukuro)" handler om ???"Shintaro Komada: 'What can that be?' I thought" handler om ???"Ikuko Nakayama: I knew it was sarin" handler om ???"Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line (Departing: Naka-Meguro)" handler om ???"Hiroshige Sugazaki: 'What if you never see your grandchild's face?'" handler om ???"Kozo Ishino: I had some knowledge of sarin" handler om ???"Michael Kennedy: I kept shouting 'Please, please, please!' in Japanese" handler om ???"Yoko Iizuka: That kind of fright is something you never forget." handler om ???"Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line (Departing: Kita-Senju; Destination: Naka-Meguro)" handler om ???"Noburu Terajima I'd borrowed the down payment, and my wife was expecting - it looked pretty bad" handler om ???"Masanori Okuyama: In a situation like that the emergency services aren't much help at all" handler om ???"Michiaki Tamada: Ride the trains every day and you know what's regular air" handler om ???"Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Hibiya Line" handler om ???"Takanori Ichiba: Some loony's probably sprinkled pesticides or something" handler om ???"Naoyuki Ogata: We'll never make it. It we wait for the ambulance we're done for" handler om ???"Michiru Kono: It'd be patetic to die like this" handler om ???"Kei'ichi Ishikura: The day of the gas attack was my sixty-fifth birthday" handler om ???"Tokyo Metropolitan Subway: Kodemmacho Station" handler om ???"Ken'ichi Yamazaki: I saw his face and thought: 'I've seen this character somewhere'" handler om ???"Yoshiko Wada, widow of Eiji Wada: He was such a kind person. He seemed to get even kinder before he died" handler om ???"Kichiro Wada, Sanaé Wada, parents of Eiji Wada: He was an understanding child" handler om ???"Koichiro Makita: Sarin! Sarin!" handler om ???"Dr. Toru Saito: The very first thing that came to mind was poison gas - cyanide or sarin" handler om ???"Dr. Nobuo Yanagisawa: There is no prompt and efficient system in Japan for dealing with a major catastrophe" handler om ???"Blind Nightmare: Where Are We Japanese Going?" handler om ???"art Two: The Place That Was Promised" handler om ???"Preface" handler om ???"Hiroyuki Kano: I am still in Aum" handler om ???"Akio Namimura: Nostradamus had a great influence on my generation" handler om ???"Mitsuharu Inaba: Each individual has his own image of the Master" handler om ???"Hajimi Masutani: This was like an experiment using human beings" handler om ???"Miyuki Kanda: In my previous life I was a man" handler om ???"Shinichi Hosoi: 'If I stay here,' I thought, 'I'm going to die'" handler om ???"Harumi Iwaura: Asahara tried to force me to have sex with him" handler om ???"Hidetoshi Takahashi: No matter how grotesque a figure Asahara appears, I can't just dismiss him" handler om ???"Afterword" handler om ???En sekt, kaldet Aum Shinrikyo, er ledet af en mand, Shoko Asahara, der har en ide om at slippe giftgassen sarin ud i undergrundsbanen i Tokyo. Planen bliver sat i værk og 12 bliver dræbt.Desværre er dette ikke plottet til en thriller, men en virkelig hændelse. Haruki Murakami har interviewet mange af de involverede og fået en meget, meget stærk bog ud af det.???
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There are two halves to Underground. The first consists of Murakami's conversations/interviews with survivors (and relatives of victims) of the sarin gas attacks in Tokyo, the second half are interviews/conversations with former Aum members (the cult that perpetrated the attacks). I found the first half of the book to be engrossing and moving (especially a few of the interviews toward the end of the section). The second section was much harder to get into, but ultimately more interesting and less emotionally stirring. As someone who hasn't spent much time reading about cults, except in the vaguest sense, Murakami's conversations with former Aum members was eye opening.Overall the book was interesting and while the second half has a similar set up (brief bio and then the interview/conversation), it has a totally different tone than the first. The most important thing to remember and Murakami brings this up a few times, is that we're reading people's opinions and recollections, which will always be distorted from the truth of what actually happened, as memories are prone to be. Regardless, I found the whole book interesting and I wonder if some of Murakami's inspiration for 1Q84 (which I read quite recently) came from these interviews and conversations.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Outstanding. This is a Studs Terkel-like oral history of the experiences of the Tokyo gas attack victims. Amazingly powerful.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read it to get a better understanding of 1Q84. I wouldn’t say it’s essential reading for it, but it's very helpful to understanding the book’s themes and characters. Underground is a non-fiction account of Aum Shinrikyo’s sarin gas terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway in March, 1995. Aum Shinrikyo was a doomsday cult and the attack happened to fulfil its leader’s prophecy that a gas attack in Tokyo was to start the Third World War and lead to Armageddon. The attack killed 13 people (the last one died in 2008) and left hundreds either disabled or with permanent health problems. It also caused enormous psychological damage overall. There are different editions of Underground, but mine (Kindle edition) consists of three parts- Part 1- interviews with the victims of the attack, Part 2- interviews with the Aum cult members- none of them with the perpetrators, and Part 3- a book review- an essay by Murakami prompted by the publication of the book written by one of the cult member responsible for the release of the gas and serving the life sentence at the time.Even though mostly unedited interviews make up most of the book, there are some very enlightening remarks by Murakami in between the parts and in the final essay; enlightening in the sense of understanding the background for 1Q84 since the cult from 1Q84 bears an uncanny resemblance to Aum Shinrikyo in many respects. It's all there from the intellectual makeup of the people in it, through the split of the cult into two groups down to the presence of the incinerator on the cult's grounds (which was used to burn the body of at least one of the victims). What comes through Murakami’s comments are the dangers of a society of non-engagement and of giving into beliefs, especially the ones that condone cruelty. Quite interesting. No wonder people have been reading it voraciously in Japan, and no wonder it is disguised into supernatural in 1Q84. As for the book format, it was powerful in some respects and weak in others. It conveyed the human factor very well, but didn’t provide enough systematized information on the cult for me. I suppose the format is unique and nothing similar has been written on that topic. What came out of it was not only the portrayal of the attack and the psychology of the cult but also the portrayal of the Japanese people, their daily lives, beliefs, habits and work ethics. The Kindle edition had some annoying language errors, yet overall I would definitely recommend it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Murakami's fiction is a sympathetic portrait of everyday Japan interspersed with the surreal. While the subway sarin attacks were certainly jarring and unexpected, they don't qualify in the same way as the fantastical happenings in his novels, and I think the book suffers as a result. In his quest to faithfully reflect the subjective experiences of the victims, Murakami doesn't seem to realise that he can do this while allowing himself some creativity with format and style.Nevertheless, the stories the poisoned salarymen desperately trying to get to work on time despite barely being able to see contrast starkly with the profiles of the confused and alienated, yet not unsympathetic, members of the Aum cult, and together they offer a unique window into modern-day Japan and its discontents.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is very much a book of two parts and I found it extremely difficult to engage with - not because of the subject matter - but because of the narrative style.However, it was worth perservering with the book as much for the anthropological insight in to the Japanese psyche and in to Murakami's own mind as anything else. Murakami writes this book as an outsider coming back to Japan and through the course of the book makes it clear that he is trying to portray a 'balanced' perspective - relaying the viewpoints of the victims and Aum members in a neutral way. In my opinion he fails spectacularly in this, maybe for understandable reasons, as he maskes repeated personal attacks on the Aum supporters he interviews, cross-examing their motives and judging their capacity for mass murder. However, this makes for a good read and actually produces some interesting insights and conclusions.Part one, relaying the victims' accounts of the Tokyo subway sarin attack was delivered in a most bizarrely naive and prosaic style, with a trite summary by Murakami detailing their family history, superior moral values and general stoicism. This perhaps does give some insight in to the Japanses character - there was a complete lack of victimhood and a strong attachment to work as a source of identity.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In the aftermath of the terrorist attack by members of the Aum Shinrikyo Cult, Murakami decided to interview as many of the people who were caught up in the attacks as possible. The first part of the book consists of interviews with commuters and underground staff, and relatives of the one of the dead and a woman who was severely disabled by the attack, as well as two or three hospital doctors who were on duty that day. Each interview is preceded by a biographical note about the interviewee's life and personality, so you see them as individuals not faceless victims. It's surprising how many people initially thought that their symptoms were due to anaemia, and even more surprising how many people continued their journeys to work, and only went to hospital when they started feeling worse or realised that they had been poisoned when the media started running the story of the attack.The second half of the book, written after the publication of the first half, contains more interviews, this time with members of Aum some of whom are still unwilling to admit that the cult was responsible, and others who were disillusioned even before the gas attack.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've lived in Japan and already know something about Aum Shinrikyo, so my disappointment may not apply to other readers.It's definitely not the first book to read if you know nothing about Aum Shinrikyo, though. Well, maybe there's enough background material on the Web. Wikipedia has an interesting summary of the beliefs and sf aspects. Read something, anything, first.There's nothing in this book about some previous events that should have set the police in action--a fatal gas release near the Aum Shinrikyo center (in Matsumoto, Nagano) or the murder, along with his wife and child, of a lawyer trying to sue the cult. Nor is there much about Shoko Asahara's background, the cult's tenets (nothing really), the cult's reach in Russia and other countries, nor the proliferation of cults and odd religions in Japan. That last bit might surprise people who haven't lived in Japan. Sure, where aren't there cults? Btu the oft-heard theory in Japan is that the drive to be part of group--a complete-system group--makes them particularly appealing. And you can't live in Japan for two minutes without noticing the powerful need and pressure to be part of a group. It used to be said that that explained why most of the members of the Soka Gakkai were working-class or at least non-salarymen class: they needed something to substitute for the comforts of the salaryman system.As many others have pointed out, this book resembles a workman-like journalist's work. Murakami gives a nod to Studs Terkel in the early pages. But Murakami is a novelist, so you expect or hope that he's be able to stretch farther and make larger connections, especially because he's lived abroad. No, I mean especially because he was never salaryman material; he's always been an outsider (tho it often feels like just about every Japanese person says that), I thought he'd bring some insight into what pulls a person feeling like an outsider to this group, or the person just not satisfied with the purely material compensations that define the good life in Japan.For anyone that's lived in Japan, the lack of preparation and coordination among hospital and emergency organizations won't be any surprise. And of course the reaction to the Kansai earthquake had far more fatal consequences (see also the JAL crash in 1985). Since Murakami also wrote a book about that (which I haven't read), I thought he'd make some comments on that. Or rather: what do the people he interviewed, such as the subway workers or the soldier, think about the fractured response? Aren't they mad, even if they wouldn't say so in a crowded room?Whenever I read the account of an ex-member, and even of a few current members, and he or she would describe being absorbed by books about Buddhism or Nostradamus or philosophy or yoga (oddly enough, not a lot of manga)--so far, so good. But the person never reached the point of disclosing what was so special, what was the final appeal of Aum. I could never catch a glimmer. The doctrine, the practices, friends, the camaraderie? Perhaps there's never a satisfying answer to such questions, but it had to be something that these folks had been mulling over themselves.The Wikipedia article mentions that after Aum had been in its yogic and meditation phase for several years, Asahara made a decision that he had to be charismatic and "rebranded" the religion. Yet the charisma and Asahara himself don't seem to be a big deal in the accounts of the ex-members. This seems to come from a book by the psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism. He's quite a clear writer for a psychiatrist, so it's probably a more satisfying book than this one. Something else Murakami doesn't touch on at all: the advertising, pr, the high profile of the religion: what does that have to do with the "Japanese psyche" in his subtitle? why did it become so popular, so fast?What is revealed about the Japanese psyche doesn't involve the Aum members. Rather, these were the accounts of the subway workers and sarin victims. OK, so some of the poisoned people felt a little sick or weird but continued on to work. Yes, that seems like a strange reaction, but who among us has experienced that particular kind of illness? Would you want to get back on a train or a series of trains for the hour or two it would take to get home? Standing, squished next to other commuters? The office is actually the much more appealing option.But then there were the accounts of the victims. And the female subway worker or ex-worker? At any rate, she obviously had some emergency training. People were obviously sick, lying on the sidewalk while she was trying to get people to flag down taxis.And passersby not coming to help? Now *that* is classic, predictable Japanese behavior. *Don't stand out.* I thought it was strange that Murakami didn't hammer that point home, but then this was originally written in Japanese, so perhaps he didnt' have to. (BTW, if you're ever in Japan in such a situation or if you're just asking directions in Japanese and a whole line of people ignore you--assuming the unseeing freeze face because one person already has--look for the oddball, the kid with orange hair, piercings and motorcycle boots, a manual worker, any youngish un-salaryman or woman. That person will be glad to answer you.). And, no, I don't buy that this is bystander behavior you'd see the world over. Yes, if there's "a couple" arguing on the street, even if the man is beating up the woman, the US bystander studies have repeatedly shown that passersby will fail to help. Since Americans and most Westerners are a lot more individualistic than the Japanese--they're less fearful of being different, you'd probably see similar behavior the world over in such a situation.But the post-sarin scenario Murakami describes isn't a similar situation; the passerby helper wouldn't have put himself or herself in danger by helping others. These victim were just ill and someone (someones, I hope) was trying to help them.The 9/11 aftermath might provide a useful comparison. There you have countless stories of strangers helping dazed people, bringing them into their homes, to hospitals and so on. I think Thai people would react the same way. The Japanese ... are extra-peculiar.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Murakami is a good writer of fiction, but he is not a journalist. This book would have been much better if he had collaborated with a journalist who could present the events and issues in a more coherent and complete manner. Murakami's musings on the events and the moral issues are naive and rambling, with occasional phrases that recall the beautiful language the characterizes his fiction.In spite of its weaknesses, this book is still worth reading. The interviews with the victims and perpetrators are valuable and honest, shedding light on both the universalities and the cultural peculiarities of the time and place. Those interested in disasters or in Japanese culture will find the book interesting.Worth reading if you're interested in the subject.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Its difficult to discribe this book in any other terms then to say that Murakami sets out to interview all the people he could find who were in the tokyo subway that fateful day. We get a little background of each person along with a detailed account of how they ended up being a part of so extraordinary while they carried out their ordinary lives .As you read the book it clarifies the way people think in japan and the reaction or lack there of in case something dreadful happens, mostly because they do not expect any malice from within which would cause such extreme damage. It reminded me of the extinction of the dodo. The isolation of a species makes it vulnerable as the fear which is so primal & essential for survival is lost ultimately leading to its downfall.Luckily, (in this case unluckily) the Japanese society has evolved to such an extent that there is not a lot to fear however this does not excuse the government and emergancy services to not have any plans just in case something aweful does happen. I would like to agree with the other reviews i have read about this book that the Murakami would be fasinated by the cult members because they sound like the characters from his novels, which mirror his own thinking about life the universe and everything within it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    You know how Hakuri Murakami is wacky and zany and nutso? Well, not in Underground. He's a Serious Journalist. I was like a third grader in the last hour of the day; I could hardly keep my seat. But plug away I did, as Murakami interviewed victim after victim. And so on and so on. Good news: I'm finished with one more dusty BookCrossing book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A chilling read, this is an account of the Tokyo subway attack in 1995 from the point of view of those who experienced it. The first part is a collection of interviews with survivors or relatives of victims, and the second is a set of interviews with former members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult. The sometimes seeming repetitiveness of the stories (on the way to work, sudden strange smell, etc etc) do not numb but rather emphasize the randomness of acts of devastation that do not differentiate between victims. We are also given a partial picture of the workings of the cult, the leader, and the men who took part in the attack. It gives us an idea of the appeal of such groups, and the motivations of people who join them. There is plenty of food for thought after a reading of this book, and they are not easy to digest.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting read. The book starts out with interviews of some of the victims of the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo underground, March 1995. Not knowing so much about this attack, this was interesting, yet after a while also a bit repetitive. The stories are sad, shocking, and even a bit scaring for a commuter like me. They made me wonder: how would I behave in such a situation? How different are the Japanese from Europeans, or do commuters all over the world behave the same? Are we commuters a scaring kind of subculture, living hours of our days in public transportation, no communication with our fellow travellers, absorbed in our own thoughts and worlds, like zombies? Do we get stuck in this zombie world even if we experience a life threatening attack? Do we prefer to continue on to our jobs, even if we cough, even if our vision is seriously troubled, even if our fellow travellers are left on the ground, mortally wounded? This is what struck me most, how these people had their routines, and wanted to stick to it to the utter end. And now, most of them find it hard to talk about this event, because most of all, they want to forget, continue the old routine. What fascinated me more, however, was the second part of the book containing interviews with Aum followers and former followers. The interviewees were not involved in the Sarin gas attack, not even indirectly, but they were part of this cult. Who were these people? Were they really the monsters that were described in the media? It struck me - and it feels a bit cruel to say this - that these people were so much more interesting characters. It seemed to me that Murakami really did his uttermost best to write down the statements of the victims with a lot of respect, and that he sincerely detests the gas attack, let me be clear about that. But in the end, he too was more interested in the people who committed the crimes, or were at least part of the organization responsible for the attack. Having read several of Murakami's novels I am not amazed by his interest in the Aum followers. These people seem to have more than a few characteristics in common with Murakami's main characters. Most of all, they wonder about the world, about the meaning of life, they feel they cannot adapt to the routine of daily life, they do not feel at home in a capitalist and materialistic world, they are looking for a kind of spirituality that they can't find in the standard religions. They feel they need to retreat from the "normal world" to find a deeper truth within themselves. This reminded me strongly of the guy in the Wind up bird chronicles, the guy who sat at the bottom of an empty well for I don't know how many days.It seemed to me that in the short notes of the author, the preface, the conclusions, Murakami is visibly searching for answers within himself, answers to questions like: why do I - and my main characters - have so much in common with these people, could I have committed a crime as horrific as this gas attack, where did it all go wrong? How did all these intelligent and sympathetic people end up in a crazy movement? In the end, he seems rather happy to have found at least one difference, which is that he accepts the confusion and the illogic ways of reality, that he uses them in a positive (literary) way, instead of turning away from them like the Aum followers did. Still, he isn't that sure, ending his book with the sentences: "That might very well be me. It might be you."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fascinating book following the events surrounding the ‘Sarin’ nerve gas attacks that took place on 20th March 1995 on the Tokyo underground train system, carried out by members of the Japanese cult AUM. Murakami has done an excellent job in his documentation of the event, speaking to both victims and perpetrators alike, in order to get the full picture of this terrifying and senseless act. Providing an insight into the considerable aftermath these events have had on the consciousness of the Japanese people as a whole. Very sensitive handling of his material, written from a highly personalized perspective, he manages to get to the heart of the matter without resorting to sensationalism or tabloid mentality. Well researched, with much persistence in some cases in getting the victims to come forward to talk. Second Murakami book I read after 'Kafka On The Shore' and pleasantly surprised by his none fiction writing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    "Underground" consists of two parts (published in Japan as separate volumes): 60 interviews with victims of the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attack - mostly survivors, with some family members of the victims and a couple of medics - followed by interviews with eight former or current members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.Murakami's aim in the first part (explained in a final chapter) was, firstly, to humanise the stories of the victims, and secondly to understand whether there was anything within Japanese society which made the cult, and the attack, possible. He also wanted to work on something specifically Japanese, to mark his return from living in the US.He certainly succeeded in his first aim - the stories of what individuals actually experienced on the day may seem quite similar, but they gradually build up a very effective picture of the horror of the events of that day, all the more terrifying for the everyday setting.I'm not so sure about the second. Some of the details certainly seem to me to be typically Japanese - the fact that people carried on struggling to get to work even though they could hardly see or walk, the small number of voices who were angry at the unco-ordinated reaction of the emergency services, the fact that very few of the interviewees talk about their personalities when describing how they reacted to events - but most of it could have happened anywhere. Even the cult members interviewed are recognisable personalities - the nihilistic teen, the woman who turns to spirituality after starting to question whether there's more to life than parties, karaoke and meeting men. I found their stories more interesting than those of the victims - partly because it's an experience which I can't imagine ever having (and a good insight into the way that people were brainwashed), and partly because the stories themselves are more varied. But what they all have in common is that they were attracted to the cult because its worldview was easier to deal with than the contradictions and confusions of the real world - life within the cult was tough, but there was a clear system of rewards and punishments for your actions - very seductive when you are used to it, and probably the reason why it was possible to order adherents to carry out such horrific crimes. This book is, in many ways, Murakami's response to this argument - the accreted detail of seventy lives explicitly stands against the totalitarian logic of a cult like Aum. It is a deeply humane work, much more than simple reportage.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Harrowing emotional accounts of the Tokyo sarin gas attacks.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The story of the Tokyo subway bombing as told by the victims and some members of Aum. Very redundant, it took me a while to appreciate how he told the story. I was a little freaked getting on the subway after finishing the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read this book just after moving to Tokyo. My reading time was usually on the train, so I think this book terrified me more than it should have. It was a great way to learn more about the culture, detatchment, and a certain desire for spirituality I saw in Japan. Murakami's non-fiction is as gripping and questioning as his fiction.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I first heard about this book when NPR's This American Life read excerpts from it in one of their shows. It sounded fascinating. Murakami lets his interviewees tell their own stories, which gives the reader an authentic feel for their experiences and personalities. Unfortunately, because he does this without benefit of a unifying narritive voice, the book doesn't flow very well. Each story is told in its entirety, becoming its own plot unto itself. I can understand that he wanted to make each victim's experience as important than the overall event, but for me it made the book feel redundant. With each successive interview, that morning in March, 1995 began over and over again. While frustrating, Underground paints an interesting portrait of the Japanese psyche. For the same reasons it failed as a documentary, I thought it was excellent as a social commentary. You get a feel for the personalities (and idiosyncracies) of the victims, and what drove many of them to remain in the subway that morning after it was clear that something was horribly wrong. Also, I would also recommend that anyone unfamiliar with Tokyo geography keep a good map of handy.