Court to sentence man over fatal 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack

From Kyodo

January 25 2024

KYOTO – A Japanese court on Thursday is set to sentence Shinji Aoba, the man responsible for a 2019 arson attack at a Kyoto Animation Co. studio that killed 36 people in one of Japan’s worst-ever mass murders.

Aoba, 45, admitted to lighting the blaze at the animation firm’s premises in Kyoto, western Japan, on July 18, 2019. In addition to the deaths, 32 employees were injured in the inferno.

As the defendant confessed to his role in the incident, the focus of the trial at the Kyoto District Court was whether he could be declared mentally competent and thus held criminally responsible.

Presiding Judge Keisuke Masuda said in his early remarks that Aoba was “not in a state of mental incompetence or diminished capacity” at the time.

Aoba entered court in a wheelchair pushed by a prison officer, his face and neck showing red scars caused by burns he sustained in the fire. He remained seated when bowing with others present at the start of court proceedings.

When asked if he had anything to say before the court announced his sentence, an emotionless Aoba said he did not.

Prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Aoba, while the defense argued he was mentally incompetent at the time of the attack and sought an acquittal or a lesser sentence.

Aoba told the court that he was motivated to carry out the attack by the belief that Kyoto Animation had plagiarized a novel he had entered into a contest run by the firm.

While the defense argued Aoba was suffering from delusions and was in a state of diminished capacity at the time, prosecutors countered that his delusions had a limited impact on his behavior and did not constitute a reason to refrain from imposing the maximum sentence.

Kyoto Animation, often referred to as “KyoAni,” is known worldwide for producing hit anime works including “K-On!” and “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.”

According to the ruling, Aoba entered the firm’s Studio 1 at around 10:30 a.m. and lit the blaze using gasoline. There were 70 employees in the building at the time.

The trial began last September, more than four years after the incident, as Aoba sustained life-threatening burns and needed to undergo intense treatment and rehabilitation.

At 13:45 on Thursday NHK reported that Aoba had been sentenced to death.