Kyoto Animation fire: Japan prosecutors seek death penalty over blaze that killed 36

A man prays next to flowers and tributes laid at the scene in 2019 where dozens died in a fire at an animation company building in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph: Buddhika Weerasinghe/AFP/Getty Images

Prosecutors in Japan are seeking the death penalty for the suspect in an arson attack in 2019 that killed 36 people in one of the country’s deadliest crimes for decades.

Shinji Aoba, who was not arrested until he had recovered from the burns he sustained in the attack on an animation studio in Kyoto, admitted in court in September 2023 to starting the fire.