A court in Japan on Thursday sentenced to death the man who set fire to an animation studio in Kyoto (west of the country) in 2019, killing 36 people, one of the bloodiest crimes in the archipelago in decades.
According to multiple reports, Shinji Aoba, now 45, broke into the Kyoto Animation studio building, poured gasoline on it, then set it on fire and shouted, “You're going to die.”
This tragedy caused an immense wave of emotion and outrage in Japan and abroad.
This act was “truly cruel and inhumane,” said Kyoto Court President Keisuke Masuda on Thursday, according to the verdict obtained by AFP.
“The fact that 36 people died is extremely serious and tragic” and the victims “had to endure fear and agony before they died,” Mr Masuda added. The flame-ravaged studio “immediately turned into an inferno,” he continued.
Most of the victims were young employees of Kyoto Animation – nicknamed “KyoAni” – including a 21-year-old woman. More than 30 other people were injured in the disaster.
“I didn't believe so many people would die, and now I think I went too far,” the defendant said on the first day of his trial last September.
“I think I have to pay for my crime with (this sentence),” he also said during a hearing in December when asked about the desire of the victims' families to see him sentenced to death.
A “delusional” resentment
Shinji Aoba sought revenge against KyoAni because he believed the company had stolen a script idea from him, a claim the studio strongly denied and which prosecutors described as “delusional.”
Five charges were brought against him, including murder, attempted murder and arson. Prosecutors sought the death penalty last month.
The arsonist himself suffered severe burns in the incident on July 18, 2019, and his injuries required multiple surgeries. He appeared in a wheelchair.
His lawyers had pleaded not guilty, arguing that he “lacked the ability to distinguish between right and wrong” due to psychiatric disorders.
But judges ruled on Thursday that Mr Aoba did not suffer from dementia or reduced mental capacity at the time of the crime.
Japan is one of the democracies that continues to use the death penalty, like the United States and India. Executions are carried out by hanging.
Japanese public opinion remains largely supportive of the death penalty, despite criticism abroad.
The last execution in the country, with 107 convicts on death row last month, took place in 2022.
That “doesn’t change our sadness”
In the courtroom, where many of the victims' relatives were present, one person burst into tears and covered his face as he listened to the judge, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Mr. Aoba's sentencing “does not change our grief,” KyoAni President Hideaki Hatta said in a statement. “It breaks my heart to think of all our employees who lost their lives and the pain felt by the other victims of the attack and their families.”
Founded in 1981, KyoAni produced cartoons often inspired by manga, including “Lucky Star,” “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya,” and “K-ON!” or the animated film “Violet Evergarden,” which was still in production at the time of the fire and was finally released in theaters in Japan in 2020.
Known for the sophistication of its production, this studio has remained loyal to its location in Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan, while most Japanese animation studios are based in Tokyo.
Dozens of studio fans braved the snow on Thursday and gathered outside the field, including 23-year-old Kentaro Hatanaka.
“I hope that KyoAni will once again offer the world animated films full of life, like before the fire,” he told AFP.