Public memorial to be placed at the site of the studio where the great fire broke out…The contents of the “unexpected commotion at the scene” of the KyoAni arson case.

A dark figure known as “Number 2” orchestrated the rejection of his entry.

He had a grudge against KyoAni for dropping or taking down his work.”

The trial in the Kyoto Animation (Kyo-ani) arson case, which had been delayed due to the defendant’s severe burn injuries, finally began in September. The defendant, Shinji Aoba (45, charged with murder, etc.), who appears in court in a wheelchair, has been making a number of unexplained statements.

On July 18, 2007, Aoba stormed into Kyoani’s No. 1 studio (Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City) and spread 10 liters of gasoline on the first floor of the building and set it on fire with a lighter. 36 people died and 32 were seriously injured in the worst arson murder case in Japanese history.

Four years have passed since the incident. Four years have passed since the incident, and the site has been cleared and fenced off, and sunflowers and other flowers have been planted. While the atmosphere is quiet, an unexpected disturbance has occurred.

At the end of the year of the incident, the local neighborhood association requested KyoAni not to build a cenotaph or park for unspecified visitors at the arson site. This was because the residents were perplexed when Kyoani President Hideaki Hatta stated immediately after the incident that he wanted to make it a park and build a monument if possible” (reporter for a national newspaper).

(A reporter for a national newspaper) “One of the residents of the neighborhood who submitted the request told us.

The neighborhood association agreed to the plan. I understand that there are bereaved families and fans who want to build a memorial. However, after the incident, some of the people who visited the memorial had bad manners, making noise and littering. If the memorial and park are built, such things will continue to happen for a long time to come. We hoped that they would take into consideration that this is a quiet residential area, and it is also the place where we live.”

What will KyoAni do with the site in response to the residents’ request? Daisuke Okeda, legal counsel in charge of the project, responded, “Nothing concrete has been decided.

We have not decided on the specifics, but it is expected to be used as a business site for the company. In that case, a (private) cenotaph is expected to be set up, and we do not think it is appropriate to open the site to the public because it is a business site. Instead, we aim to build a public cenotaph at a location separate from the site of the incident.”

In response to the residents’ request, a public cenotaph will be placed in a park in Uji City, where KyoAni’s head office is located. The unveiling ceremony is scheduled for next July.

From the October 6, 2023 issue of FRIDAY