The arson attack in a revered Kyoto animation studio killed 36 people and injured dozens more.

A Japanese man has been sentenced to death for an arson attack at a Kyoto animation studio in 2019 which killed 36 people and injured dozens more.

The incident, one of Japan’s deadliest in recent decades, killed mostly young artists and shocked the anime world.

Shinji Aoba, 45, pleaded guilty to the attack but his lawyers had sought a lighter sentence on grounds of “mental incompetence”.

Judges rejected this however, ruling that Aoba knew what he was doing.

“I have determined that the defendant was not mentally insane or weak at the time of the crime,” Chief Judge Masuda said on Thursday at Kyoto District Court.

  • @ScrongleEnglish
    1•10 months ago

    That’s a peculiar statement, considering the U.S. is essentially the most recent major nation (and one of very few) to be formed and grown, about as far from the intense pressures of previously established cultural or governmental influences (both from within, or from surrounding territories) as you can get, without leaving the planet.

    …If that’s not considered relatively modern when compared to the rest of the world, what is?

    • @Viking_HippieEnglish
      8•10 months ago

      the U.S. is essentially the most recent major nation

      Which isn’t saying much at all since all other major nations are at least a thousand years old.

      What IS saying a lot, though, is that the US constitution is the oldest national constitution still in effect bar none.

      about as far from the intense pressures of previously established cultural or governmental influences (both from within, or from surrounding territories) as you can get, without leaving the planet.

      Bullshit. The US is profoundly influenced by Christian norms and traditions for better and especially for worse. It’s one of the most conservative countries in the West both politically and culturally.

      If that’s not considered relatively modern when compared to the rest of the world, what is?

      Scandinavia, for example 🤷

    • @yesmanEnglish
      7•10 months ago

      That’s a particular statement, considering the US has the oldest democratic constitution in the world.

    • @[email protected]English
      1•10 months ago

      South America and Africa are extremely confused right now…

      Also, if you don’t want to look that far abroad look at literally either of America’s neighbors. Canada didn’t finish growing in size until 1949 and formed a province as recently as 1999. Mexico has technically been a continuous nation since 1810 but it’s worn a lot of different costumes in that time, including being ruled by a Habsburg.