The arson attack in a revered Kyoto animation studio killed 36 people and injured dozens more.

A Japanese man has been sentenced to death for an arson attack at a Kyoto animation studio in 2019 which killed 36 people and injured dozens more.

The incident, one of Japan’s deadliest in recent decades, killed mostly young artists and shocked the anime world.

Shinji Aoba, 45, pleaded guilty to the attack but his lawyers had sought a lighter sentence on grounds of “mental incompetence”.

Judges rejected this however, ruling that Aoba knew what he was doing.

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

  • cheeseburgerEnglish
    8·
    5 months ago

    From the article:

    Aoba himself suffered burns to over 90% of his body in the fire,

    and

    Those convicted typically remain on death row for years, or even decades. The death penalty is conducted by hanging.

    That’s going to be an agonizing wait for the hangman.