Mr. ITO Sakae
--My past 25 years having been bound by the “51-second damage”--
On March 20, 1995, I, an ordinary office worker, got a subway train to my office as always. I then got caught up in “51-second damage” inside the train on the Hibiya Line for Nakameguro while on my way to work and have been bound by it for the past 25 years.
I got in the third car from the front at Kayabacho Station at eight o’clock in the morning. 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 next person 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 cannot forget even now. There was a clear liquid covering the floor in the middle of the third car, and someone sitting down was falling into a fit of convulsions. There was also a man with torn open clothes who was having a convulsive fit while leaning on a pole, and body fluid was dripping out.
“What in the world is happening!” I did not understand the situation at all.
There was an announcement in the car that there were sick people at Tsukiji Station, then the passengers carried sick people to the platform. Station staff shouted “stretchers” and they were prepared, but even the passengers carrying out sick people were falling down one after another. Station staff screamed “emerging evacuation”. And the passengers in the car and at the platform became agitate and fled to the ground all at once from the ticket gate. The exit was right in front of Tsukiji Honganji Temple, and it was a very strange scene, with people having a convulsive fit while still standing.
When I reached the surface, I happened to come across my boss at my company who was also riding in the first car, and we got in a taxi to work. But even on the way, it was hard to breathe as well, so I opened the window. I was able to 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.
For the treatment of my symptoms, my colleagues arranged for me to go to the Jikei University Hospital. The hospital was like a field hospital. Patients with serious symptoms, such as vomiting, were able to receive treatment on the bed, however, I, with relatively mild symptoms, waited in a long line to be examined. The hospital staff passed me a big plastic bag, and I was instructed to put my clothes into the bag. Due to the symptom of my eyes, I felt gloomy in the hospital, though it should have been bright. My eyes were so-called miosis, and my black eyes were only about the thickness of a pencil lead. I had difficulty in breathing, and my nose kept running, making me repeatedly blowing nose with toilet tissue paper. After waiting under bad physical condition and anxiety, I finally received treatment of a medical doctor. Although the doctor explained that it might be due to chemical agents, I did not receive any satisfactory therapeutic treatment. After then, I continued visiting the hospital for half a year, but my eyes still have symptom. Specifically, when my exhaustion accumulates, I feel as if “a bamboo screen” is hung in front of my eyes. In addition, for half a year after the attacks, I was afraid to get on the subway maybe due to stress disorder, but I managed to gradually overcome it with the support of my family.
Later, I was questioned by the police and also interviewed by both Japanese and foreign media. Japanese media interviewed and reported in a more or less similar manner, such as “What a pitiful victim・・・.” The US media, however, raised questions, such as “Why do Japanese people remain calm even after the unprecedented scale of terrorist attacks took place here,” with which I really sympathized. It is a pity that the public sector has been short of making efforts to follow upon the rights of the victims and their current state. The leader and members of Aum were arrested and put on trials, and their punishments were executed after the conclusion of the relevant trials. However, I will not forgive the fact that successor groups of Aum Shinrikyo, a “terrorist group,” have been actively continuing their activities, such as collecting a huge amount of money and secretly acquiring facilities for their activities and increasing their followers.
Moreover, it is probably honest thoughts of many victims including me that we have fear and anger on the activities of Aum’s successor groups. I know I am, among the victims, not the only one who feels nothing has changed and also feels left behind by “news reports of a new chapter” (claiming that a critical juncture has been reached concerning the attacks with the execution of the perpetrators), with physical anxiety, financial anxiety, anxiety about support (from the country and government). The victims, bereaved and victim families must keep on living.
It should never be forgotten. I will continue to talk about it whenever I am presented with the opportunity.
(January 10, 2020)
On March 20, 1995, I, an ordinary office worker, got a subway train to my office as always. I then got caught up in “51-second damage” inside the train on the Hibiya Line for Nakameguro while on my way to work and have been bound by it for the past 25 years.
I got in the third car from the front at Kayabacho Station at eight o’clock in the morning. 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 next person 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 cannot forget even now. There was a clear liquid covering the floor in the middle of the third car, and someone sitting down was falling into a fit of convulsions. There was also a man with torn open clothes who was having a convulsive fit while leaning on a pole, and body fluid was dripping out.
“What in the world is happening!” I did not understand the situation at all.
There was an announcement in the car that there were sick people at Tsukiji Station, then the passengers carried sick people to the platform. Station staff shouted “stretchers” and they were prepared, but even the passengers carrying out sick people were falling down one after another. Station staff screamed “emerging evacuation”. And the passengers in the car and at the platform became agitate and fled to the ground all at once from the ticket gate. The exit was right in front of Tsukiji Honganji Temple, and it was a very strange scene, with people having a convulsive fit while still standing.
When I reached the surface, I happened to come across my boss at my company who was also riding in the first car, and we got in a taxi to work. But even on the way, it was hard to breathe as well, so I opened the window. I was able to 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.
For the treatment of my symptoms, my colleagues arranged for me to go to the Jikei University Hospital. The hospital was like a field hospital. Patients with serious symptoms, such as vomiting, were able to receive treatment on the bed, however, I, with relatively mild symptoms, waited in a long line to be examined. The hospital staff passed me a big plastic bag, and I was instructed to put my clothes into the bag. Due to the symptom of my eyes, I felt gloomy in the hospital, though it should have been bright. My eyes were so-called miosis, and my black eyes were only about the thickness of a pencil lead. I had difficulty in breathing, and my nose kept running, making me repeatedly blowing nose with toilet tissue paper. After waiting under bad physical condition and anxiety, I finally received treatment of a medical doctor. Although the doctor explained that it might be due to chemical agents, I did not receive any satisfactory therapeutic treatment. After then, I continued visiting the hospital for half a year, but my eyes still have symptom. Specifically, when my exhaustion accumulates, I feel as if “a bamboo screen” is hung in front of my eyes. In addition, for half a year after the attacks, I was afraid to get on the subway maybe due to stress disorder, but I managed to gradually overcome it with the support of my family.
Later, I was questioned by the police and also interviewed by both Japanese and foreign media. Japanese media interviewed and reported in a more or less similar manner, such as “What a pitiful victim・・・.” The US media, however, raised questions, such as “Why do Japanese people remain calm even after the unprecedented scale of terrorist attacks took place here,” with which I really sympathized. It is a pity that the public sector has been short of making efforts to follow upon the rights of the victims and their current state. The leader and members of Aum were arrested and put on trials, and their punishments were executed after the conclusion of the relevant trials. However, I will not forgive the fact that successor groups of Aum Shinrikyo, a “terrorist group,” have been actively continuing their activities, such as collecting a huge amount of money and secretly acquiring facilities for their activities and increasing their followers.
Moreover, it is probably honest thoughts of many victims including me that we have fear and anger on the activities of Aum’s successor groups. I know I am, among the victims, not the only one who feels nothing has changed and also feels left behind by “news reports of a new chapter” (claiming that a critical juncture has been reached concerning the attacks with the execution of the perpetrators), with physical anxiety, financial anxiety, anxiety about support (from the country and government). The victims, bereaved and victim families must keep on living.
It should never be forgotten. I will continue to talk about it whenever I am presented with the opportunity.
(January 10, 2020)
（別ウィンドウで開きます）
〒100-0013 東京都千代田区霞が関1-1-1 電話番号：03-3592-5711 法人番号：8000012030003