A former AUM Shinrikyo nurse who helped another former AUM cultist, Makoto Hirata, hide from police used a pseudonym combining the names of two celebrities, an attorney has revealed.
Akemi Saito, 49, who was arrested for harboring Hirata, 46, falsely identified herself as "Kyoko Yamaguchi" between 1995 and 1996. "I made up the name from Momoe Yamaguchi and Kyoko Koizumi," Saito was quoted as telling her attorney, Taro Takimoto, in referring to the popular singers and actresses.
Saito, who is suspected to have repeatedly changed pseudonyms, identified herself as Kyoko Yamaguchi while she was working at a Japanese restaurant in Sendai between November 1995 and February 1996. Saito was allegedly living with Hirata in the restaurant's dormitory at the time.
While she was working at an osteopathic clinic in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture, until right before she turned herself in to police earlier this month, she identified herself as "Shoko Yoshikawa." Saito told the attorney she had no idea about the origin of the name. Lawyer Takimoto said the name was probably devised by Hirata.
