Perpetrator
Shinji Aoba (青葉 真司) was identified as the suspect by police. He was born on May 16, 1978, in Urawa, Saitama, Japan. He was 41 years old at the time of the attack.
Investigators said Aoba is a high school graduate who attended evening school. They also said he worked part-time at the Saitama prefectural government for three years until 1998. His father died when he was 21 years old. After that he lost contact with his siblings, and it is believed he lived alone. Aoba went from job to job, and was later involved in a robbery. He was admitted to a rehabilitation facility for offenders in Saitama City in 2016, when he was 38. Aoba was in the facility for six months. After that, he is believed to have lived alone in an apartment in Saitama City for about three years. He reportedly resided there until the attack on the animation studio. The resident of the apartment next door says Aoba banged on his door four days before the arson attack and blamed him for noise that was coming from a different unit. Although the resident tried to explain that he was not making the noise, he said Aoba suddenly grabbed him by the collar. He said he found it impossible to communicate with the defendant. Police say Aoba traveled to Kyoto three days before the incident and visited the site of the animation studio building before buying items for the attack.[3]
According to locals, a man resembling Aoba was spotted near Studio 1 in the 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.
Immediately following the attack, Aoba fled the scene, chased by employees of the studio, but was apprehended by the Kyoto Prefectural Police near Rokujizō Station of Keihan Electric Railway, about 100 m 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, Aoba admitted to having started the fire, for revenge, accusing the studio of "ripping off" or "plagiarising" his novels. Initially, company president Hideaki Hatta had stated that there was no record of anyone submitting work to their annual writing contest under Aoba's name. Subsequently, Kyoto Animation revealed that they had received a draft novel from Aoba; however, it did not pass the first-stage assessment and was forgotten, and its contents were confirmed to have no meaningful 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 grafts. 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 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 Kyoto Animation 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, Aoba was judged to have sufficiently recovered from his burn injuries, and he was formally arrested on suspicion of murder and other charges. He was indicted on 16 December 2020 on murder and other charges.
Aoba had a prior criminal history and was known to suffer from mental illness. In 2012, he robbed a convenience store with a knife in Ibaraki Prefecture and was subsequently jailed for three-and-a-half years. It was speculated after the attack that Aoba's mental illness would reduce his maximum penalty for the attack from a death sentence to life imprisonment.
On 12 May 2023, the Kyoto District Court announced that Aoba would stand trial in September 2023 and that a verdict would be announced in January 2024. Aoba pleaded guilty to the charges on 5 September 2023, and on 7 December the prosecutors announced they would be seeking the death penalty for Aoba. On 25 January 2024, the court announced that Aoba had been sentenced to death. The day after, Aoba filed an appeal against the death sentence. Aoba told a local press that he "accepted the death sentence", but he went ahead with the appeal as he wanted to "speak out".
On 28 January 2025, Aoba's death sentence was finalized after he withdrew his appeal to the Kyoto District Court's ruling.[4][5][6]
