Haruki Murakami: Underground

Haruki Murakami’s Underground is a non-fiction about sarin gas attack in Tokyo, 1995. The book is a composition of interviews that Murakami made with witnesses and the perpetrators themselves. Not only with those affected by sarin gas, but also the attackers themselves in hope to understand the reason for the attack.

Underground is a very different from other reports by the media that with a straightforward manner concentrate to the evilness of the Aum. Instead, this book tells about ordinary, normal people and their feelings and minds when they suddenly noticed standing in middle of terror.

Murakami's fantastic skill as a writer and his gentle sympathy makes this book wonderful to read. He makes it very simple, in a way. Underground gives a looking glass into the minds of ordinary Japanese people. It is a book without political agenda. As Murakami says, he wants his readers to imagine. Imagine what it was like.

"This "old man" was in fact a station attendant. Only he'd removed his uniform jacket. He was pale and his hair was thin, so I mistook him for an elderly passenger. I later found out he was Mr. Toyoda, a colleague of the staff [Mr Takahashi and Mr Hishinuma] who died. He was the only one of the three injured station attendants who survived, and he was one of the longest in hospital."

The sarin attack, known in Japan as chikatetsu sarin jiken "subway sarin incident", was committed by cult Aum Shinrikyo in Japan, Monday 20 March, 1995. Chiyoda line, Marunouchi line and Hibiya line were the lines targeted by attack. Ten men were responsible for carrying out the attacks. Five of them released the sarin and others were their get away drivers.

Sarin is a nerve gas invented by Adolf Hitler's army. Its twenty-six times as deadly as cyanide gas. Small drop can kill person easily. Only country that has actually used that gas is Iraq, in wars against Iran and the Kurds.

The attack was executed by carrying bags of sarin to Japanese subway lines. The attackers dropped the bag into a floor, punched the bags with tip of their umbrellas and exited the train. The gas spread in the train and severely injured thousands of people, causing chaos. Amazingly, only twelve people died. But those injured by sarin gas had serious after effects. The effects of the gas attack changed lives of thousands of people.

Still it must be said that the Tokyo gas attack still remains in Japanese national memory. Sometimes when something goes wrong, some people feel very ill in train or there is strange smell, it pops in the minds of people "could it be sarin?". This event can be said to be only event of terrorism in Japan since war.