A Japanese court sentenced a 23-year-old man to four years in prison on Tuesday for setting fire to empty houses in a community of Korean residents in Kyoto Prefecture a year ago, in a case seen by the residents as a hate crime.
The ruling by the Kyoto District Court in the trial of Shogo Arimoto follows arguments by prosecutors in previous court hearings saying Arimoto committed the crime "out of a one-sided hatred of Koreans." The defendant had admitted to the charges.
Arimoto had been also implicated in arson attacks at two buildings associated with South Korea in Aichi Prefecture in July 2021.