‘I don’t have words’: most victims in arson attack on Kyoto anime studio were bright, young women, says studio boss

Many victims of an arson attack on a Japanese animation studio were young with bright futures, some joining only in April, the shaken company president said on Saturday, as the death toll climbed to at least 34. Thursday’s attack on Kyoto Animation, well known for its television series and movies, was Japan’s worst mass killing in two decades. It was all the more poignant because of the youth of the victims in a country where the population is among the world’s oldest. Many of the victims of the attack were young women, company president Hideaki Hatta said. People who had a promising future lost their lives. Rather than feeling anger, I just don’t have words. Hideaki Hatta, president of KyoAni “Some of them joined us just in April. And on the eighth of July, I gave them a small, but their first, bonus,” he said. “People who had a promising future lost their lives,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. Rather than feeling anger, I just don’t have words.” Fifteen of the victims were in their 20s, and 11 were in their 30s, public broadcaster NHK said. Six were in their 40s and one was at least 60. The age of the latest victim, a man who died in hospital, was not known. The names of the victims have not been disclosed. Kyoto Animation, known to fans as KyoAni, had about 160 employees with an average age of 33. Police have confirmed the identity of the suspect as Shinji Aoba, 43, but have declined to comment further. The suspect was reportedly a former convict and had a grudge against the studio, local media reported. Attacker screamed ‘You die!’ and set fire to Japanese animation studio, leaving 33 dead Aoba spent three-and-a-half-years behind bars for robbing a convenience store in Tokyo in 2012, and lived in facilities for former convicts after his release, broadcaster NHK said. The man told police he set the fire because he thought “(Kyoto Animation) stole novels”, according to Japanese media. It was unclear if he had contacted the studio earlier. A resident of the Tokyo suburb of Saitama, Aoba was believed to have bought two 20-litre cans at a hardware store and prepared the petrol in a park near the studio, broadcaster Nippon TV said, adding that he travelled to Kyoto by train. He arrived at the scene wheeling a trolley with at least one bucket of petrol to the entrance of the building before dousing the area, shouting “You die” and setting it ablaze on Thursday, Nippon TV said. The blaze blocked the front door and quickly engulfed the workspace, rising up the stairs to the third floor, sending panicked employees fleeing. Some were able to escape by crawling out of windows, with the help of neighbours. Many tried but failed to escape to the roof, fire officials said. The suspect fled but was chased by studio employees who eventually caught him. He collapsed to the ground outside a house and was quickly surrounded by police. Japan animation studio set on fire considered ‘revolutionary’ by fans NHK showed footage of him lying on his back as he spoke to a police officer at the time of his detention, shoeless and with apparent burns on his right leg below the knee. Police at the scene confiscated the petrol tanks, a knapsack and knives, but have not confirmed they belonged to the attacker. “I did it,” Aoba told police when he was detained, Kyodo reported. A woman who witnessed Aoba being detained told reporters he “seemed to be discontented, he seemed to get angry, shouting something about how he had been plagiarised”. “I imagine many of the people who died were in their 20s,” said 71-year-old Kozo Tsujii, fighting back tears after laying flowers near the studio in the rain. He said he drives by the studio on his daily commute. “I’m just very, very sad that these people who are so much younger than me passed away so prematurely,” he said. At the charred studio site, there was a growing mound of flowers brought by people who have come to pay their respects and pray. The smell of burnt timber lingered in the area and the police outline drawn on the ground where Aoba had laid injured was still visible. Tributes to the victims lit up social media, with world leaders and the chief executive of Apple offering condolences. The hashtag #PrayforKyoAni, as the studio is known among fans, has become popular. Why are Japan’s famously reserved citizens becoming more violent? Kyoto prefectural police chief Hideto Ueda solemnly laid flowers at the site, now a charcoal shell, vowing for the utmost in the investigation to find motives behind the attack, which he described as “unprecedented and unforgivable”. Kyoto Animation, in a quiet suburb about 20 minutes by train from the centre of Kyoto, produces popular “anime” series such as Sound! Euphonium. It is also known for Violet Evergarden, which has been shown on Netflix. While shooting deaths are rare in Japan, the country has had a series of high-profile killings in recent years. Less than two months ago, a man described as a social recluse, or “hikikomori”, stabbed a number of private schoolchildren at a bus stop outside Tokyo, killing two people and wounding 17 before killing himself. In 2016, a former employee at a home for the disabled allegedly killed 19 people and injured more than 20. Deadly attacks in Japan shine a light on the country’s modern hermits, known as hikikomori Nobuo Komiya, a Rissho University criminology professor, calls the attacks “suicidal terrorism”, in which attackers typically see themselves as losers and target their anger on the society, often those who seem happy and successful. “Feeling angry at people who they think are winners, they tend to choose privileged people as targets,” Komiya said. “They think they have nothing to lose, they don’t care if they get caught or if they die.” They are part of a growing trend that reflects a change in the Japanese society, where disparities are growing and ties among families, community and other groups have weakened and people are less obliged to follow the rules and be part of it, he said. “Japan shouldn’t be complacent about its safety any more. We should follow the US and Europe and do more for risk management.”