In issuing the death sentence on Thursday, Judge Keisuke Masuda said the defendant “was neither insane nor suffering from impaired mental capacity at the time of committing the crime.”
The man, Shinji Aoba, admitted in court last year to setting the fire, but his lawyers said he was mentally unstable and suffering from delusions during the attack. They said that he was suffering from a psychological disorder that made him unable to distinguish between right and wrong.
When the trial began in September, Aoba pleaded not guilty to five charges, including murder, attempted murder and arson.
“I didn't think that so many people would die, and now I think I've gone further,” Ohba told the Kyoto District Court at the time. His lawyers demanded that he be acquitted or have his sentence reduced.
But prosecutors said the seriousness of the crimes required the harshest possible sentence.
“This is an unprecedented case of arson and mass murder, and the number of victims is the largest ever in the history of Japanese criminal trials,” the prosecution told the Kyoto District Court at the end of the trial.
Japan is one of the few developed countries that still retains the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging.
Although there are 107 people on death row, Japan will not carry out any executions in 2023 for the first time in years. International human rights groups have repeatedly called on Japan to abolish the death penalty, but a government poll conducted in 2020 showed that 80% of the public supports retaining it.
Police said Aoba, who was 41 at the time, entered the building owned by Kyoto Animation, one of Japan's leading anime production houses, on July 18, 2019, and sprayed a flammable liquid around the office, shouting: “Die! “. on time.
The explosions appeared to have caused secondary explosions, sparking panic as workers rushed to the stairs or to the roof of the three-storey building.
Firefighters struggled for hours with the blaze. In the end, 36 people died — many of them young animators — and 32 others suffered serious burns and other injuries.
Aoba suffered severe burns to 90 percent of his body and had to undergo 12 surgeries.
Founded in 1981, Kyoto Animation Studio is one of the country's leading producers of anime, a Japanese style of animation art often characterized by vibrant graphics and imaginative storytelling. Its notable titles include “Full Metal Panic!” and “K-On!” And the sound! trumpet.”
