Japanese man sentenced to death after murder of 36 young artists in arson attack

More than half of a Kyoto animation studio’s 70-strong workforce was killed in the fire, and another 32 injured

Shinji Aoba started a fire in 2019 which killed 36 people in the Kyoto Animation Studio

(JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

A Japanese man has been sentenced to death for an arson attack at an arts studio in Kyoto which killed 36 people and wounded dozens more.

The 2019 incident, one of the deadliest arson attacks in Japan in decades, killed mostly young people and animation artists.

Shinji Aoba, 45, had pleaded guilty to the murder charges last year but his lawyers had hoped to soften the sentence on grounds of “mental incompetence”.

Chief Judge Masuda, speaking at the Kyoto District Court on Thursday, determined that “the defendant was not mentally insane or weak at the time of the crime”.

“The death of 36 people is extremely serious and tragic. The fear and pain of the deceased victims was indescribable,” Japanese broadcaster NHK reported him saying.

The families of the victims were seen in the courtroom as the verdict was read, with many visibly emotional as the judge read out the details of Aoba’s crime.

Aoba, meanwhile, kept his head bowed as the judge read out the death penalty sentence.

Shinji Aoba, 45, was sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of killing 36 people

(JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

In July 2019, he set fire to the ground floor of the Kyoto animation studio after splashing petrol all over the floor. Shouts of “Drop dead” were heard as the floor was set alight.

The flames soon engulfed the multistorey building, trapping many of the young animation artists on the upper floors of the studio.

More than half of the animation studio’s 70-strong workforce was killed in the fire, and another 32 injured.

Judge Masuda said many of those who survived the ordeal are now “tormented by feelings of guilt and remorse” after watching their colleagues “engulfed by flames”.

Prosecutors alleged that Aoba had been motivated to attack the studio after believing his own animations had been stolen. He claimed Kyoto Animation, known as KyoAni, had plagiarised a novel he entered into their contest.

Prosecutors had told the court: “The delusion that KyoAni Studio had plagiarised his work influenced his motivation”.

Aoba later said during his guilty plea in September 2023 that he did not think so many people would die.

“I felt I had no other option but to do what I did,” he said at the time. “I feel tremendously sorry and the feeling includes a sense of guilt.”

Aoba himself suffered burns to across 90 per cent of his body in the fire. He was only arrested after he had recovered from operations.

Japan retains capital punishment for its most serious crimes, such as multiple murders, but those convicted typically remain on death row for years, even decades. The death penalty is conducted by hanging.