Kyoto Animation arson attack


The Kyoto Animation arson attack occurred at Kyoto Animation's Studio 1 building in the Fushimi ward of Kyoto, Japan, on the morning of 18 July 2019. The arson killed at least 36 people, injured an additional 33, and destroyed most of the materials and computers in Studio 1. It is one of the deadliest massacres in Japan since the end of World War II and the deadliest building fire in Japan since the 2001 Myojo 56 building fire. It was considered "suicidal terrorism" by one criminology professor at Rissho University, as the attack was reportedly intended to be a suicide mission by the suspect.
The suspect Shinji Aoba, who did not work for the studio, entered the front door and doused the area and several employees with gasoline before igniting it. After setting himself on fire while lighting the gasoline, the suspect attempted to flee, but was apprehended by police about from the building. Witnesses stated they heard him accusing the studio of plagiarism. The police arrested Aoba on suspicion of murder and other offenses on 27 May 2020, after awaiting his recovery from life-threatening burns for more than 10 months.
In addition to condolences and messages of support from world and national leaders, fans and businesses raised over ¥3.3 billion in Japan and over US$2.3 million outside of Japan to help the studio and its employees recover. As a result of the incident, some works and collaborations by the studio were delayed, and several events were cancelled or suspended.

Background

Kyoto Animation is one of Japan's most acclaimed anime studios, known for titles such as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, K-On! and Clannad. It has several different locations in Kyoto: Studio 1 ; Studio 2, and Studio 5. Their merchandise development division is in Uji, one train station away from Studio 1. The building was used mainly by the animation production staff, and was constructed in 2007.
A few weeks before the attack, Kyoto Animation had received a number of death threats. Company president Hideaki Hatta said they did not know if the threats were related to the incident, as they were sent anonymously, but he had informed police and lawyers of them. They reportedly received up to 200 threats in the year before the attack. After the police were informed of these threats in October 2018, they temporarily patrolled the head office at the time.

Incident

The fire began with an explosion at around 10:31 a.m. when the perpetrator walked into Studio 1 and set the building on fire with of gasoline. The perpetrator bought the gasoline away from the building, and it was believed that he walked to the building with the gasoline being carried on a platform trolley. The police believed that the gasoline planted on site mixed with the air, causing the explosion at the start. He is reported to have been shouting "die!" as he carried out the attack. The perpetrator also poured gasoline over some individuals before setting them alight—setting himself on fire in the process—causing them to run out into the street in flames.
As the fire grew by the entrance, staff members were trapped inside the building. 20 bodies were found on the stairs from the third floor to the roof, evidently indicating that the victims were attempting to escape. Dr. Tomoaki Nishino, Associate Professor at Disaster Prevention Research Institute of Kyoto University, estimated that second and third floors were almost filled with smoke within 30 seconds of the explosion. The perpetrator fled the scene but was chased by two Kyoto Animation employees and soon collapsed on the street, where he was apprehended by police. Multiple unused knives were found lying by the scene.
The fire was under control at 3:19 p.m., and extinguished at 6:20 a.m. on the next day. Once the rescue efforts had ended, it was confirmed that all people in the studio had been accounted for. The building did not have fire sprinklers or indoor fire hydrants, due to its classification as a small office building, but had no deficiencies in fire safety compliance during its last inspection on 17 October 2018. Initial reports claimed the studio's entrance required employee pass-cards, but the door was left unlocked as the studio was expecting visitors. However, this was inaccurate: there was no security system in place and the door was always left unlocked during business hours.
The arson attack destroyed most of Kyoto Animation's materials and computers in Studio 1, though a small portion of keyframes were on exhibition in Tokushima and hence spared destruction. On 29 July, Kyoto Animation reported that it successfully recovered some digitized original drawings from a server that survived the fire.
It is reported to be one of the deadliest massacres in Japan's history since the end of World War II and the deadliest building fire in the country since the Myojo 56 building fire in 2001. It was considered "suicidal terrorism" by one criminology professor at Rissho University, as the attack was reportedly intended to be a suicide mission by the suspect.

Victims

There were 70 people inside the building at the time of the fire. A total of 36 people were killed, including three who later died at a hospital. Some victims were difficult to identify, according to the Kyoto police, because they had been burned beyond recognition. Autopsy results released on 22 July 2019 revealed that a majority of victims had succumbed to burns due to the quick spreading fire. DNA testing was done to aid in identifications, which lasted up to a week after the arson attack. It was reported that two-thirds of the victims were women, as the studio was known for hiring female animators.
The president of Kyoto Animation asked the media through the police not to release the names of the victims out of respect for their families, stating that "releasing their names does nothing to serve the public good." On 25 July, the Kyoto police said they had identified all 34 victims and had started to return the bodies of the victims to their relatives. 2 days later, on 27 July, it was reported that one more victim had died in the hospital, raising the number of deceased to 35. Discussions were ongoing with Kyoto Animation if, when and how to reveal the identities of the deceased. Some of the families released their own findings to the media regarding the status of their loved ones, including the family of color designer Naomi Ishida, who confirmed her death on 24 July. On 26 July, the family of animator, scriptwriter, and director Yasuhiro Takemoto confirmed his death through DNA testing. On 2 August, the Kyoto Police released the names of ten victims whose funerals had finished and relatives' consents obtained, and it was confirmed on the same day that animation directors Yoshiji Kigami and Futoshi Nishiya were among the dead. On 27 August, considering the social impact of the case, the authorities officially revealed the names of the remaining 25 victims, including the board and animation director Shōko Ikeda.
It was initially reported that 36 people were injured; this figure later dropped to 34, when two people later died at the hospital. Ten of the injured were initially reported to be in serious condition, one of whom had their legs amputated. Those who were reported safe include animation director Naoko Yamada, who directed K-On!, A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. According to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the injured victims was a South Korean woman.
On 7 September, it was reported that 7 women were still undergoing treatment at the hospital, while 3 were still in critical condition. However, on 18 September it was reported that all 34 people injured in the attack were no longer in life-threatening condition, although some remained in the intensive care unit with severe burns. On 4 October 2019, it was announced that one woman died from septic shock, bringing the death toll to 36. Five people remained in the ICU.

Suspect

Shinji Aoba, a 41-year-old man, was identified as the suspect by police and a warrant was quickly issued for his arrest.
According to locals, a man who resembled Aoba was spotted near the studio days before the incident. He was also reported to have visited several places of interest related to Sound! Euphonium around the city in days prior to the attack. Following the attack, Aoba fled the scene after being chased by employees of the studio but was apprehended by the Kyoto Prefectural Police near Rokujizō Station of Keihan Electric Railway, about from the studio; Aoba was then taken to a hospital with severe burns to the legs, chest, and face. During his transport to the hospital, he admitted to having started the fire, possibly for revenge, accusing the studio of "ripping off" or "Plagiarism his novels. In spite of this, Hatta had initially stated that there is no record of anyone submitting work to their annual writing contest under his name. Subsequently, Kyoto Animation revealed that they had received a draft novel from the suspect; however, it did not pass the first-stage assessment and was forgotten, and its contents were confirmed to have no similarities to any of their published works.
Due to serious burns sustained during the incident, Aoba was transferred to a university hospital in Osaka for further treatment, where he received necessary skin graft surgery. On 5 September 2019, it was reported that his injuries were no longer considered life-threatening, but he was still being treated in an ICU and required respiratory assistance from a ventilator. Aoba regained speech on 18 September and began rehabilitation by 8 October, being able to sit up on a wheelchair and hold short conversations. The police obtained a warrant for his arrest, but were required to await confirmation from doctors that Aoba could withstand confinement. On 14 November 2019, he was moved to another hospital in Kyoto City for final rehabilitation. He recovered from most of his injuries and acknowledged responsibility for the attack. He expressed feelings of remorse and gratitude towards the hospital staff, who he said treated him better than anyone had ever done in his life. On the other hand, he told police that he lit the fire because KyoAni had stolen his novel, and that he expected to get the death penalty. Most of Aoba's burned skin was replaced with experimental artificial skin as the victims were prioritized to receive donor human skin first. The use of artificial skin on such extensive burns is the first case in Japan. By January 2020, Aoba remained hospitalized, and was unable to stand or eat unassisted. On 27 May 2020, Aoba was judged to have sufficiently recovered from his burn injuries, and he was formally arrested on suspicion of murder and other charges.
Aoba had a prior criminal history and suffered from a mental illness. In 2012, he robbed a convenience store with a knife in Ibaraki and was subsequently jailed for three-and-a-half years. Aoba's mental illness may reduce his maximum penalty for the attack from a death sentence to life imprisonment.

Aftermath

One month after the arson attack, the victims began to return to work at the other Kyoto Animation studio. As of October 2019, while the number of KyoAni employees decreased from 176 to 137, 27 of the surviving 33 victims returned to work with several having decided to take extended breaks to cope with the stress and anxiety brought by the attack.
The company has issued an official statement, requesting respect for the victims and their family members, and also stating that all future statements will be either through the police or their lawyers. The demoliton process of the building was completed on 28 April 2020, with no further plans for the site revealed. In an earlier interview, Kyoto Animation's president Hideaki Hatta stated that he was considering replacing the building with a green public park and a memorial monument. However, residents in the neighbourhood did not wish for a memorial to be built as it would destroy "the peaceful lifestyle ".
Due to recovery efforts, Kyoto Animation had suspended the 11th Kyoto Animation Awards, an annual award to discover new stories.
In November 2019, the studio had decided to continue training programmes for aspiring animators, in which trainees would be trained in movies, sketching and animations. Upon graduating from the programme, outstanding trainees could be recruited by the studio after being examined further.

Impact on productions

In response to this incident, a publicity event for the upcoming 2020 Free! movie was cancelled. Kyoto Animation's Sound! Euphonium collaboration with Keihan Main Line was delayed, as was episode 4 of BEM. The third episode of David Production's Fire Force, an anime series about firefighters and people dying from spontaneous combustion, was delayed for a week and released with the colours of the fires and narration modified. Subsequent episodes of Fire Force were dealt with in a similar manner. The studio has decided to push on with premiering Violet Evergarden Gaiden on 3 August 2019 at Germany's AnimagiC convention as originally scheduled. The Japanese theatrical screening dates were extended by an extra week and honored the victims in the end credits. Despite earlier news reports stating that the upcoming Violet Evergarden movie would premiere as scheduled on 10 January 2020, it was later announced to be delayed to 24 April 2020, but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the premiere was now delayed to 18 September 2020. An episode for Animation x Paralympic, originally due to be aired in August 2019, was eventually announced as cancelled in 28 February 2020, citing that they would be unable to complete it in time for the 2020 Paralympics.

Measures to prevent recurrence

The and the National Police Agency issued a notice on 25 July 2019, requiring gas stations to maintain sales records of people purchasing gasoline in refillable containers, which conform to fire safety regulations. Each record is to contain the buyer's personal information such as name, address, the purpose of the purchase, and quantity purchased. Although the notice had no legal backing, most buyers complied with this additional requirement voluntarily. This measure was formalised with the relevant regulations revised and enforced on 1 February 2020 to make the sales records mandatory. Post incident, the Kyoto Municipal Fire Department formulated guidelines for evacuation in the event of arson or terrorism and encouraged the installation of evacuation ladders.

Reactions

Kyoto Animation accepted direct donations through a local bank account to help the victims of the attack from 23 July 2019 to 27 December 2019. Eventually, the bank account had accumulated approximately. The donations included separate donations from Japanese musician Yoshiki and game developer Key. It is estimated that the company would require as much as to cover the cost of supporting the victims and affected families and company-related business operating recovery expenses. As of November 2019, the company has begun the process of distributing the funds raised to the victims, with each victim receiving an appropriate amount after factoring various considerations such as severity of injuries, whether the victim is a sole breadwinner, etc.

Domestic

expressed his condolences and stated that he was "speechless" at the scale of the incident. A first in Japanese corporate history, a measure was passed in the National Diet to allow for donations to the studio to be tax-exempt. The Chinese, French, Philippine, and Belgian embassies in Japan provided their own words of condolence.
Numerous people and organisations related to the industry expressed concern and support, such as anime directors Makoto Shinkai and Tatsuki, K-On! voice actress Aki Toyosaki, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya voice actresses Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, and Yūko Gotō, Hyōka author Honobu Yonezawa, Clannad developer company Key, and media company Kadokawa Corporation. Animation studios such as SHAFT, Sunrise, Bandai Namco Pictures, Toei Animation, Bones, Khara, Trigger, Walt Disney Japan, and Madhouse all offered their support as well.
Animate, a major Japanese retailer of anime, video games, and manga, took donations at all of their stores to support the victims, and had raised over 330 million yen by 1 September.

International

Several foreign dignitaries, including Justin Trudeau, Tsai Ing-wen, António Guterres, and others, offered their own messages of support for the victims.
In the wake of the fire, a GoFundMe appeal was launched by American anime licensor Sentai Filmworks. With a target of US$750,000, it surpassed the US$1 million donation mark within the first 24 hours. It had received US$2.3 million at the end of the appeal. As of 7 December 2019, Sentai had transferred all of the funds raised, except for an amount for credit card processing fees, to Kyoto Animation studio.
Fans have also taken to Kyoto Animation's Japanese digital store to directly contribute by purchasing high-resolution downloadable images as they do not require staff to ship them. American licensing companies Aniplex of America, Funimation and Crunchyroll, and Nickelodeon Animation Studio, all offered their support. Adult Swim's anime-oriented Toonami block started their 20 July broadcast asking viewers to donate to the GoFundMe set up by Sentai Filmworks.