Armageddon coming in September?

Yomiuri Shimbun/June 3, 1999

GIFU -- A company affiliated with the Aum Supreme Truth cult in Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture, has been growing crops at a field since last August, and storing the produce in warehouses in the neighboring town of Mugicho, it was learned Wednesday.

The company is growing buckwheat, wheat and potatoes at the 2,700-square-meter field, which it leased from an office worker in the city.

In March, the company took out a five-year lease on a tract of land owned by a Mugicho resident. Seven containers were set up there, three of which measure about 12 meters in length with the other four being six meters long.

Local residents said they had seen young people carrying corn and wheat into the warehouses.

According to public security sources, the cult has been saying that Armageddon will come in September and has been moving members to Gifu and Nagano prefectures.