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Japan in Shock After Suspected Arson at Kyoto Animation Studio Kills 33 Kyoto Animation Studio Arson Kills 33, Shocking Japan
(about 4 hours later)
TOKYO — For the second time in two months, Japan has been shocked by devastating apparent violence in a country that is generally considered one of the safest in the world. TOKYO — The attacker screamed “Die!” and set alight flammable liquid he had splashed around an anime studio in Kyoto, the police said, starting a blaze that killed 33 people Thursday in what appears to be Japan’s worst mass killing in decades.
The Kyoto police said on Thursday that a 41-year-old man was believed to have ignited a flammable liquid around an animation studio in Kyoto. The resulting fire killed 33 people in what is believed to be country’s deadliest arson attack in three decades. It was a gruesome scene that shocked a nation considered one of the safest in the world, and prompted a global outpouring of grief among the many fans of anime — a school of animation that has become synonymous with Japan.
The fire came just weeks after a man went on a stabbing rampage in a Tokyo suburb, attacking 17 schoolgirls, killing one of them as well as an adult. That rampage, by a 51-year-old man, cast attention to the phenomenon of Japan’s “hikikomori” — adults who are extreme recluses — and their psychological issues. The Kyoto police said the suspect was a 41-year-old man, and Japanese newspapers reported that he had been detained and hospitalized for burns.
At the studio of Kyoto Animation, which has produced popular shows and movies including “Full Metal Panic,” “K-On” and “Clannad” and has done contract work for the world-famous anime company Studio Ghibli, three dozen people were also injured in the morning blaze. The fire, at the studio of Kyoto Animation, was the second case of devastating violence in Japan in two months, coming just weeks after a man went on a stabbing rampage in a Tokyo suburb, attacking 17 schoolgirls, killing one of them and an adult.
The man believed to have set the fire, who was hospitalized with burns, was being detained. NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, said the police planned to question him further after he told them he had splashed flammable liquid near the studio building and set it alight. The attack in Kyoto was even deadlier than the sarin subway attacks of 1995, when the Aum Shinrikyo cult killed 13 people and injured thousands. Its death toll was also higher than after a mass stabbing at a center for people with disabilities outside Tokyo in 2016, at the time the worst mass killing in Japan since World War II.
Three dozen people were injured at the studio on Thursday, and witnesses described scenes of horror there as the fire raged: victims climbing out of windows through gushing smoke, or racing out into the street screaming for help.
The attack touched a nerve among the Japanese public, and many poured out their grief on social media. The hashtag #prayforKyoAni had close to 260,000 tweets late Thursday evening. The studio has produced popular shows and movies, among them “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya,” “K-On” and “Clannad,” and has done contract work for the world-famous anime company Studio Ghibli.
There was little known Thursday about the man believed to have set the fire or his motives. According to NHK, the public broadcaster, he was hospitalized with burns and had told the police he had splashed flammable liquid at the studio building and set it alight.
Citing the Kyoto police, the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest mainstream dailies, reported that the man had entered the building screaming “Die!” and then tried to escape, but collapsed on the street outside. He was captured by members of the studio’s staff.Citing the Kyoto police, the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest mainstream dailies, reported that the man had entered the building screaming “Die!” and then tried to escape, but collapsed on the street outside. He was captured by members of the studio’s staff.
Thursday’s tragedy touched a nerve among the Japanese public, who poured out their grief on social media. The hashtag #prayforKyoAni had 170,000 tweets late Thursday evening. Arson is rare in Japan, and experts quoted by NHK said Thursday’s fire was the worst case in decades. In 2001, 44 people died after a fire broke out at a crowded gambling club in Tokyo’s busiest entertainment district. It was investigated as arson, but the authorities could not confirm that the fire had been purposefully set.
Arson is rare in Japan, and experts quoted by NHK said it was the worst case since 1989. In 2001, 44 people died after a fire broke out at a crowded gambling club in Tokyo’s busiest entertainment district, but that was ruled accidental. The cultural reaction to Thursday’s fire reflected Kyoto Animation’s popularity among fans of anime, the category of Japanese cartooning that is a backbone of the country’s popular culture and one of its major soft-power exports.
Kyoto Animation was founded by Yoko Hatta and her husband, Hideaki Hatta, in 1981, and most of the studio’s production takes place in the building that was the site of Thursday’s fire. Kyoto Animation — known as KyoAni among its fans — was founded by Yoko Hatta and her husband, Hideaki Hatta, in 1981, and most of the studio’s production takes place in the building that was the site of Thursday’s fire.
Footage of Thursday’s fire from a local television station showed black smoke pouring out of windows of the three-story building, with one side of the building mostly charred black. Whereas most major anime studios are based in Tokyo, Kyoto Animation chose to build its operations in a separate regional hub, one of Japan’s most popular cities among tourists, admired for its historical beauty.
The shows and movies that Kyoto Animation produces fall into the category of Japanese cartooning known as anime — a backbone of the country’s popular culture and one of its major soft-power exports. The devastation at the studio, said fans, would rip a hole in the anime world.
With roots going back to the early 20th century, anime has found an international following through artists like Hayao Miyazaki, whose feature “Spirited Away” won an Oscar in 2003, and Makoto Shinkai, whose movie “Your Name” was a global phenomenon, particularly in China. “Would it get across to people who are not familiar with anime that the fire at Kyoto Animation studio is ‘a loss of culture,’ as if museums get destroyed by fire in an instant?” one wrote on Twitter.
On Twitter, Mr. Shinkai showed his support for the Kyoto Animation staff. “Everyone at Kyoto Animation, please please stay safe,” he said, in a message that was recirculated almost 19,000 times. Kyoto Animation distinguished itself by paying its workers salaries, rather than by assigning piecework, as many other studios do, said Susan Napier, an expert on Japanese animation at Tufts University.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also expressed sympathy on Twitter for the victims of the fire. Animation is “very hard work,” said Ms. Napier. “You’re usually overworked and underpaid and just killing yourself to get the product out, but Kyoto Animation was trying to be a more humane company.”
“Today, we had many casualties in a fatal arson attack that happened in Kyoto,” Mr. Abe wrote. “It is so horrifying that I am at a loss for words. I’d like to express my deepest condolences to the victims. I offer my thoughts to those who have been wounded and pray for their recovery, by even one day.” She said the studio was known for its high-quality series, combining science-fiction or fantasy elements with realistic plotlines and settings in high schools or real cities in Japan.
Witnesses who spoke to other Japanese news outlets described grim scenes near the studio. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, another large daily, a woman in her 60s living near the building said she had seen a young woman, her entire body burned, screaming and running into a nearby shop, begging for help. With roots going back to the early 20th century, anime has attracted an international following through artists like Hayao Miyazaki, whose feature “Spirited Away” won an Oscar in 2003, and Makoto Shinkai, whose movie “Your Name” was a global phenomenon, particularly in China.
The witness said the woman was bleeding, her clothing torn and her feet bare. “It took a long time until the ambulance arrived,” the witness told the Mainichi. “All I could do was to spray water over her under the fire department’s instruction. She was eventually transferred to an ambulance.” Mr. Shinkai expressed support for the Kyoto Animation staff on Thursday. “Everyone at Kyoto Animation, stay safe,” he wrote on Twitter in a message that was recirculated almost 19,000 times.
Another witness who was working near the studio when the fire broke out told the Sankei Shimbun that he had seen flames coming from the buildings’ first and second floors and heard screaming. The witness said he had seen a man hanging onto the wall outside the building, and another trying to escape from a first-floor window after breaking it. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also expressed his sympathy.
“Today, we had many casualties in a fatal arson attack that happened in Kyoto,” Mr. Abe wrote on Twitter. “It is so horrifying that I am at a loss for words. I’d like to express my deepest condolences to the victims. I offer my thoughts to those who have been wounded and pray for their recovery, by even one day.”
Witnesses who spoke to Japanese news outlets described grim scenes near the studio. According to The Mainichi Shimbun, a large daily, a woman in her 60s living near the building said she had seen a young woman, her entire body burned, screaming and running into a nearby shop, begging for help.
The witness said the woman was bleeding, her clothing torn and her feet bare. “It took a long time until the ambulance arrived,” she told The Mainichi. “All I could do was to spray water over her under the fire department’s instruction. She was eventually transferred to an ambulance.”
According to NHK, the police are investigating a report by a clerk at a gas station about a quarter mile from the studio who said a man in his 30s or 40s, wearing a red T-shirt and a backpack, bought about 10 gallons of gas at 10 Thursday morning. NHK reported that the man carried away the two gas cans on a hand cart, saying he would use them in a power generator.
NHK reported that an official at the Kyoto City Fire Department said that most of the 20 people who were found dead on the stairs that led from the third floor of the studio building to the rooftop were lying on top of one another right near the door to the roof. When rescuers reached the roof, the door was closed, though not locked.