Fumihiro Joyu, a leading member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, said Thursday he has moved to an apartment in Minami-Karasuyama in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward from another facility in Ota Ward.
Joyu, 38, told reporters he plans to stay there longer following unsuccessful attempts to live in various areas of Tokyo, where he has been dogged by protests from residents. He asked local residents for their understanding.
Following his release from jail in December 1999 after serving a three-year term for perjury and document falsification, Joyu lived in Yokohama before relocating to Tokyo in September.
The Public Security Investigation Agency has said Aum, which now calls itself Aleph, rented the five-story Minami-Karasuyama apartment building, capable of accommodating up to 100 people, in mid-December as a residential and training facility.
Aum founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and many other cultists have been tried on a number of charges, including the March 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 12 people and injured thousands.