In 1977, Yuko Chino founded Chino-Shoho, a Japanese new religious movement blending Christianity, Buddhism, and New Age teachings. The group’s “scientific arm,” Pana-Wave Laboratory, later became notorious for its unusual doctrines. It was also considered a UFO or contactee religion, with membership ranging from several hundred to more than a thousand followers.
Chino, a former English teacher, drew inspiration from her mother’s involvement in another religious group. After that group’s leader died, she began gathering her own disciples and publishing her writings, which gradually incorporated elements of science fiction and political conservatism. Her followers came to revere her as the “last Messiah” after Buddha, Moses, and Jesus.
In the early 1990s, Chino reportedly fell ill. Her followers attributed her condition to electromagnetic radiation, allegedly generated by scalar wave attacks from former KGB agents via power lines. They also believed these waves were damaging the environment.
To shield against this perceived threat, the group established Pana-Wave Laboratory. Members adopted distinctive practices — wearing all-white clothing, covering vehicles and buildings with white fabric, and surrounding themselves with similar materials to “neutralize” harmful radiation.
For years, Pana-Wave attracted little attention. That changed in October 2002, when the group parked its white caravan on a closed mountain road in Fukui Prefecture. When the road reopened in spring 2003, the caravan drew public scrutiny. The magazine Shukan Bunshun amplified concerns by publishing articles comparing Pana-Wave’s facilities to “satyams,” a term associated with the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo.
The group’s visibility increased further through its association with Tama-chan, a bearded seal that had become a Japanese pop-culture phenomenon. Pana-Wave claimed rescuing the seal would prevent global catastrophe, even funding a failed capture attempt. Fuji TV later aired an interview with Chino, who, despite being described as terminally ill, appeared healthy while warning of impending calamities linked to Tama-chan — a connection widely dismissed as a publicity stunt.
Public anxiety escalated when Hidehiko Sato, head of Japan’s National Police Agency, compared Pana-Wave to the early days of Aum Shinrikyo. This sparked media frenzy and local protests. Journalist Shoko Egawa, known for her investigations into Aum, criticized both the media and police for unnecessarily inflaming fears.
On May 14, 2003, police raided 12 Pana-Wave facilities and 17 caravan vehicles, charging the group with possessing three falsely registered vehicles. Authorities described the operation as a preemptive measure to “snuff out social anxiety.” Some legal experts, however, condemned the raid as heavy-handed, drawing parallels to the 1993 Waco siege in the United States.
Chino had prophesied that on May 15, 2003, a “tenth planet” would approach Earth, triggering a pole reversal and massive disasters — and that she herself would die on that day. When nothing occurred, the group claimed the apocalypse had been postponed by a week, but the public largely ignored them. By early June, Pana-Wave’s prominence collapsed, and it slipped back into obscurity. After Chino’s death in 2006, the movement all but disappeared from public life.
Key Sources:
The Age. (2003, May 17). Doomsday cult misses the call.
Mainichi Daily News. (2003, May 8). Kooky cult gets all clear.
Schaefer, G. (2003, May 3). Wandering cult befuddles Japan. The Associated Press.
The Sydney Morning Herald. (2003, May 7). Japanese cult guru gives her first interview.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 