The suspect in the 2019 arson attack on a Kyoto Animation studio used gasoline to set the fire after using a similar incident as reference, it was learned Thursday.
During questioning in the sixth hearing at Kyoto District Court, Shinji Aoba, 45, facing murder and other charges, said he learned from an arson attack against a branch of consumer finance firm Takefuji, which later went bust, in the city of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture in 2001.
As for reasons for targeting the No. 1 studio of the animation powerhouse, better known as KyoAni, in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward, he said he "thought many people would die" when the building where many people were working was attacked.