Sakae Ito
This is what I thought about the execution of the perpetrators.
I became a victim of the (March 20) 1995 subway sarin gas attacks. I was an ordinary office worker, and I got caught up in the attack inside a train on the Hibiya Line bound for Meguro while on my way to work.
The following is an overview of what happened. I got in the third car from the front at Kayabacho Station. It only takes 51 seconds to travel to Hatchobori, the next station. The air got somewhat heavy, and people moved from the front to the back of the car. The person next to me started coughing. Maybe out of a sense that something was happening, I moved to the back of the second car from the front of the train at Hatchobori Station.
When moving to the second car, I saw an extraordinary spectacle that I will never forget. There was a clear liquid covering the floor in the middle of the third car, and someone sitting down was having a seizure. There was also a man with torn open clothes who was seizing while leaning on a pole, and liquid was dripping out.
"What in the world is happening!"
After there was an announcement in the car at Tsukiji Station that said there were sick people, the passengers carried sick people to the platform. Station staff called for stretchers and they were brought, but even the passengers carrying out others were falling down one after another.
Station staff then called for an emergency evacuation, and passengers escaped all at once from the ticket gates to the surface. The exit was right in front of Tsukiji Honganji Temple, and it was a very strange scene, with people having seizures while still standing.
I had no idea what was happening. When I reached the surface, I happened to come across my boss at my company who was riding in the first car, and we got in a taxi to work. But even on the way, it was hard to breathe so I opened the window. I could hear the sirens of fire engines and ambulances from all around. Even after we arrived at our company, information about the bomb or whatever had happened was still not clear.
“This isn’t a disaster movie!”
My eyes hurt, my vision got dark, and my nose kept running. My colleagues arranged for me to go to The Jikei University Hospital, but the hospital was like a field hospital. I waited in a long line to be examined. Although the doctor explained that it might be due to chemical agents, I did not receive any therapeutic treatment. After then, I went to the hospital for half a year. My eyes still have symptoms. For half a year, I was plagued by PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and was afraid to get on the subway. I think I have overcome it now, but I still am anxious every day because of possible flashbacks. That is everything.
There were news reports saying that with the execution of the perpetrators, a critical juncture has been reached concerning the attacks. But that is for their problems. I know I am not the only one who feels nothing has changed, and I just felt left behind by this news of a new chapter, with physical anxiety, financial anxiety, anxiety about support (from the country and government), and anxiety that successor groups continue their activities to this day. There are some people who talk about the attacks, saying they were caused by the social situation at the time, but it’s unbelievable. The victims, bereaved and family members must keep on living.
It should never be forgotten. I will continue to talk about it whenever I am presented with the opportunity.
I became a victim of the (March 20) 1995 subway sarin gas attacks. I was an ordinary office worker, and I got caught up in the attack inside a train on the Hibiya Line bound for Meguro while on my way to work.
The following is an overview of what happened. I got in the third car from the front at Kayabacho Station. It only takes 51 seconds to travel to Hatchobori, the next station. The air got somewhat heavy, and people moved from the front to the back of the car. The person next to me started coughing. Maybe out of a sense that something was happening, I moved to the back of the second car from the front of the train at Hatchobori Station.
When moving to the second car, I saw an extraordinary spectacle that I will never forget. There was a clear liquid covering the floor in the middle of the third car, and someone sitting down was having a seizure. There was also a man with torn open clothes who was seizing while leaning on a pole, and liquid was dripping out.
"What in the world is happening!"
After there was an announcement in the car at Tsukiji Station that said there were sick people, the passengers carried sick people to the platform. Station staff called for stretchers and they were brought, but even the passengers carrying out others were falling down one after another.
Station staff then called for an emergency evacuation, and passengers escaped all at once from the ticket gates to the surface. The exit was right in front of Tsukiji Honganji Temple, and it was a very strange scene, with people having seizures while still standing.
I had no idea what was happening. When I reached the surface, I happened to come across my boss at my company who was riding in the first car, and we got in a taxi to work. But even on the way, it was hard to breathe so I opened the window. I could hear the sirens of fire engines and ambulances from all around. Even after we arrived at our company, information about the bomb or whatever had happened was still not clear.
“This isn’t a disaster movie!”
My eyes hurt, my vision got dark, and my nose kept running. My colleagues arranged for me to go to The Jikei University Hospital, but the hospital was like a field hospital. I waited in a long line to be examined. Although the doctor explained that it might be due to chemical agents, I did not receive any therapeutic treatment. After then, I went to the hospital for half a year. My eyes still have symptoms. For half a year, I was plagued by PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and was afraid to get on the subway. I think I have overcome it now, but I still am anxious every day because of possible flashbacks. That is everything.
There were news reports saying that with the execution of the perpetrators, a critical juncture has been reached concerning the attacks. But that is for their problems. I know I am not the only one who feels nothing has changed, and I just felt left behind by this news of a new chapter, with physical anxiety, financial anxiety, anxiety about support (from the country and government), and anxiety that successor groups continue their activities to this day. There are some people who talk about the attacks, saying they were caused by the social situation at the time, but it’s unbelievable. The victims, bereaved and family members must keep on living.
It should never be forgotten. I will continue to talk about it whenever I am presented with the opportunity.
(December 21, 2018)
（別ウィンドウで開きます）
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