Disability News Japan Podcast: Trial Starts Over 2019 KyoAni Arson Attack, Suspect Admits Charges

By Barrier Free Japan

September 6 2023

KYOTO –  A man accused of carrying out a deadly arson attack on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio four years ago admitted the charges in the indictment, in the first hearing of his trial at Kyoto District Court on Tuesday.

“I didn’t imagine that so many people would lose their lives, and I now think that I went too far,” Shinji Aoba, 45, said at the outset of the lay judge trial, admitting that he carried out the attack.

The defense said Aoba should be acquitted due to his mental incompetence or given leniency due to his diminished capacity.

Episode Notes: ‘ “I now think that I went too far” Suspect in 2019 KyoAni Arson Attack Admits Charges’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2023/09/05/i-now-think-that-i-went-too-far-suspect-in-2019-kyoani-arson-attack-admits-charges/

‘Linking mental illness to violence tarnishes an entire community’ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2019/08/02/voices/linking-mental-illness-violence-tarnishes-entire-community/