Kyoto Animation Arsonist Sentenced to Death

Shinji Aoba found guilty of murder and arson in one of Japan's deadliest attacks

Shinji Aoba, the man responsible for the 2019 arson attack on Kyoto Animation studio that killed 36 people, has been sentenced to death by the Kyoto District Court.
Aoba was found guilty of murder and arson, with the court rejecting his defense's argument that he was mentally unfit to be held criminally responsible.
The attack was one of the deadliest in Japan's recent history, causing shock and grief both domestically and internationally.
Aoba carried out the attack as he believed the studio had plagiarised his work, a claim the studio denies.
The death penalty in Japan is typically reserved for cases of multiple murders, and as of December 2023, there were 107 people on death row in the country.