Japanese man sentenced to death in anime arson trial

A Japanese court on Thursday sentenced to death the perpetrator of a 2019 arson attack on an animation studio that killed 36 people, local media reported.

The blaze that ripped through the studios of Kyoto Animation four-and-a-half years ago was Japan's deadliest crime in decades, stunning the anime industry and its fans around the world.

Shinji Aoba, now 45, broke into the building, spread gasoline around the ground floor, lit it and shouted "drop dead" on the morning of July 18, 2019, survivors said.

Many of those killed were young, including a 21-year-old woman.

A number of victims were found on a spiral stairwell leading to the roof, suggesting they were overcome as they desperately tried to escape.

"There was a person who jumped from the second floor... but we couldn't rush to help because the fire was so strong," one woman told local media at the time.

"It was like I was looking at hell."

More than 30 others were injured, with firefighters calling the incident "unprecedented" and saying that rescuing people trapped inside was "extremely difficult".

'I went too far' 

Aoba, who was arrested near the scene, faces five charges including murder, attempted murder and arson, and prosecutors are seeking capital punishment in the high-profile trial.

His lawyers entered a plea of not guilty, saying he "did not have the capacity to distinguish between good and bad and to stop committing the crime due to a mental disorder".

But on Thursday, the judge ruled Aoba was "neither insane nor suffering diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime", NHK reported.

Inside the courtroom packed with family members of the victims, one person cried and covered their eyes as the...