50 members of a cult group have been driving their dying leader around the countryside of Japan for the last three years, looking for a place that is free of electromagnetic waves. The Panawave Laboratory members say that their cancer-ridden leader, Yuko Chino, 69, feels worse in the presence of EM radiation.
They stop along country roads and break out their supplies—meters and meters of white fabric, which they use to drape trees, guardrails and the vans they drive. Apparently, white reflects the waves. Everyone wears white and they use mirroed shields to hold back the police who come to move them off the public thoroughfares.
Harmless kooks, more or less. Except that they are also doomsday cultists. Panawave believes that the world will end this Friday, when an EM surge realigns Earth’s axis, or Planet X appears on the horizon, or some such drivel depending on which account you read.
Here are a few for you to sample:
Profile of cult leader Yuko Chino (Daily Mainichi),
Photo essay on the Panawave cult(Daily Mainichi),
An overview of the recent Panawave attention (The Independent),
City council gives cult a year to close shop even though the world ends in two days (via Japan Today),
and the Panawave Laboratory home page (in Japanese).
I have plans for Saturday, so the Earth had better not end on Friday!
Posted by kuri at May 14, 2003 11:01 PMCopycat!!!! :p
Posted by: gomichild on May 15, 2003 12:00 AMHonest, I didn’t read your post first. I was in class when you wriote it. I wrote mine in hasty desperation after I got back from a late dinner!
Very funny that we both did it the same sort of way with links at the bottom (not my normal MO or yours). Proving that I really AM your shadow.
Posted by: Kristen on May 15, 2003 07:24 AM*gets scared*
I knew you were out all day and couldn’t post - heh heh!
Posted by: gomichild on May 15, 2003 10:52 AMI find it ironic, too, that this group now says May 22 is “the day”… who knew that a prophecy could get mis-calculated? :)
Posted by: Randy on May 16, 2003 03:41 AMWow…we’re still here! Any comment from the Panawave folks?
Posted by: Bob on May 24, 2003 09:16 AM