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Agence France-Presse

A Japanese man who admitted starting a fire that killed 36 people at an anime studio in 2019 faces a possible death sentence on Thursday when a court delivers its verdict.
The July 2019 arson attack at the studios of Kyoto Animation was Japan’s deadliest crime in decades, and stunned the huge film and TV cartoon industry and its fans around the world.
Shinji Aoba faces five charges including murder, attempted murder and arson and prosecutors are seeking capital punishment.
Many of those killed in the blaze were young staff, including a 21-year-old woman. More than 30 others were injured.
Aoba has admitted he committed the attack, though his lawyers have entered a plea of not guilty due to mental illness.
“I didn’t think so many people would die and now I think I went too far,” Aoba told Kyoto District Court when the trial opened in September, media reports said at the time.
Black Widow case shows Japan’s support for death penalty alive and kicking
The accusations of breaking into the building, spreading petrol around the ground floor and setting it alight before reportedly shouting “drop dead” are “correct”, he said.
Firefighters called the incident “unprecedented” and said rescuing people and extinguishing the fire was “extremely difficult”.
Aoba had a “delusion” that the studio known by its fans as KyoAni stole his ideas, prosecutors said, a claim the company has denied.
Aoba himself nearly died in the fire, suffering 90-per cent burns and reportedly needing 12 operations.
He regained consciousness weeks later and was said to have sobbed with relief after undergoing a procedure that restored his ability to speak.


Japan is one of the few developed countries to retain the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging.
Despite international criticism, public support for capital punishment remains high.
No executions were carried out last year, with the last person put to death in 2022.
More than 100 people are on death row, local media say.
Last week, a 21-year-old man was given a death sentence for killing the parents of a girl who he had a crush on and setting their home on fire, according to media reports.

Aoba’s lawyers have entered a plea of not guilty, saying he “did not have the capacity to distinguish between good and bad and to stop committing the crime due to a mental disorder”.
For families of the deceased, the pain of their loss remains excruciating.
“Please give me back my daughter,” a mother who lost her 26-year-old daughter told the court in December, broadcaster NHK reported.
“I wish I could go back to that day and die with her, at least by her side,” she said.


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Japan

Man may face death penalty for Japan anime studio arson that killed 36 people

Firefighters battle the blaze at Kyoto Animation’s studios in July 2019. Photo: Kyodo News via Xinhua

Shinji Aoba, who has admitted he committed the arson attack, is taken to Fushimi police station after being arrested in Kyoto. Photo: Kyodo via Reuters

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

People pray for victims of a fire which hit the Kyoto Animation studio building. Photo: AFP

This July 19, 2019 picture shows a resident praying for victims of a fire which hit the Kyoto Animation studio building the day before, killing 33 people, in Kyoto. - Police are investigating a suspected arson attack at an animation production firm in the Japanese city of Kyoto that killed 34 people and injured dozens more. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT

epa07726742 Kyoto police investigators examine the Kyoto Animation building, in Kyoto, Japan, 19 July 2019, where a man set fire to the building in a arson attack killing 33 people and injured 35 others, the previous day. News reports state that a 41-year-old man, who allegedly set fire to the building, has been detained. EPA-EFE/JIJI JAPAN OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/ NO ARCHIVES

Hideaki Hatta, center, president of Kyoto Animation speaks to the media at the company's headquarters, following a fire of his company's building, in Uji, Kyoto prefecture, western Japan, Thursday, July 18, 2019. The fire broke out in the three-story building in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto, after a suspect sprayed an unidentified liquid to accelerate the blaze, Kyoto prefectural police and fire department officials said.(Kyodo News via AP)

(190719) -- KYOTO, July 19, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Journalists gather around a Kyoto Animation studio building after an arson attack in Kyoto, Japan, July 19, 2019. The motive behind an alleged arson attack on a studio of Kyoto Animation Co. in western Japan, which killed 33 people a day earlier, may have been the theft of ideas, sources said Friday. Local media quoting investigative sources, said that a 41-year-old man apprehended over the alleged arson attack told police he started the fire at the three-story studio because the company "stole a novel." (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

A woman prays after placing flowers near the site of the arson attack. Photo: Japan News-Yomiuri

KyoAni studio destroyed in deadly arson attack ‘brought revolutionary change to Japan animation’, fans say

A keychain with a cartoon image is placed on top of flowers placed near the Kyoto Animation Studio building destroyed in an attack Friday. Photo: AP

A man prays for the victims of Thursday's fire at the Kyoto Animation Studio building, Friday, July 19, 2019, in Kyoto, Japan. A man screaming "You die!" burst into the animation studio in Kyoto, doused it with a flammable liquid and set it on fire Thursday, killing dozens of people in the attack that shocked the country and brought an outpouring of grief from anime fans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A man places flowers to honor the victims of Thursday's fire at the Kyoto Animation Studio building, Friday, July 19, 2019, in Kyoto, Japan. A man screaming "You die!" burst into the animation studio in Kyoto, doused it with a flammable liquid and set it on fire Thursday, killing dozens of people in the attack that shocked the country and brought an outpouring of grief from anime fans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Japan’s netizens express glee, relief over execution of Akihabara mass murderer

On July 26, the Japanese Justice Ministry announced Tomohiro Kato’s execution for killing seven people and injuring 10 others by ramming a truck into holidaymaker pedestrians and stabbing at Akihabara on June 8, 2008. The execution came seven years and five months after Kato’s death sentence. File photo: EPA-EFE

An undated picture of Tomohiro Kato in Tokyo, Japan. File photo: EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS

Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said Kato had perpetrated, “an atrocious act that led to extremely serious consequences and had a major impact on society”. File photo: JIJI PRESS/AFP

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Shinji Aoba has admitted he committed the 2019 attack at the Kyoto Animation studios, though his lawyers have entered a plea of not guilty due to mental illness
Many of those killed in the blaze were young staff, with firefighters calling the incident ‘unprecedented’


Shinji Aoba has admitted he committed the 2019 attack at the Kyoto Animation studios, though his lawyers have entered a plea of not guilty due to mental illness.


Crime