Judgment Day

At the height of Shoko Asahara's power as leader of the apocalyptic Aum Shinrikyo cult, followers paid exorbitant sums for the honor of drinking the guru's blood. Since 1995, when Aum carried out a poison-gas attack that killed 12 people in the Tokyo subway, the rest of Japan has been baying for his blood as well. Last Friday, after a nearly eight-year trial, a Tokyo judge finally sentenced Japan's most reviled man to hang for masterminding the subway attack and 15 other killings by the cult. With 11 of Asahara's former followers already sentenced to death, the verdict came as no...