The following is a translation of the Henshu Techo column from The Yomiuri Shimbun's Nov. 13 issue.
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Whenever I hear mention of the incident in which a lawyer's family was killed by members of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, I remember a lady's face and a piece of poetry she wrote.
The poem, "Tatsu-bo no Nyugakushiki" (An entrance ceremony for Tatsu-bo), was written by the lady, Sachiyo Sakamoto, now 80, on the day her grandson Tatsuhiko, who was reported missing when he was 14 months old, might otherwise have begun attending primary school.
Children's legs swing back and forth in time as they sit on their chairs, but "Tatsu-bo's legs don't...I wrote your name on your clothes and indoor shoes. Sorry...It was really a sad day."
Tastsuhiko's father Tsutsumi and mother Satoko, then 33 and 29, respectively, also went missing.
Remains of the three were discovered in mountains far from their home in 1995, six years after they were reported missing. It is alleged that senior cult members, including Tomomasa Nakagawa, committed the murders at the behest of Aum founder and guru Chizuo Matsumoto, who is now a convict on death row.
