Police in Osaka have arrested a 19-year-old youth on suspicion of arson over a fire that destroyed more than half of a company’s warehouse in November.
Police said the suspect, who cannot be named because he is a minor, is accused of setting fire to a six-floor warehouse of Hitachi Transport System West Japan Co in Konohana Ward at around 9 a.m. on Nov 29, Sankei Shimbun reported. The fire destroyed about 38,000 square meters of the 60,000-square-meter facility.
It took firefighters five days to completely extinguish the blaze. About 130 workers were in the warehouse when the fire began but there were no injuries. The company said medical supplies and food products were destroyed in the fire.
Police said the suspect, who is a temp worker for the company, has admitted using a lighter to set fire to cardboard boxes on the first floor. He was quoted as saying his co-workers were bullying him, so he started the fire in the hope of being assigned somewhere else.
The suspect was questioned by police after a fire occurred at another warehouse of the same company in Osaka’s Nishiyodogawa Ward on Thursday morning. The suspect was working there at the time.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
Login to comment
Tom Doley
Probably had mental illness....
sakurasuki
No way, it doesn't exist in Japan. At least Japan pretend not to have it.
19? Yesterday we saw in the news that 17-year-old stabbing people
https://japantoday.com/category/crime/3-stabbed-at-university-of-tokyo-ahead-of-entrance-exams
serendipitous1
He definitely should be assigned somewhere else........ideally the prison department.
snowymountainhell
3 more months and he’s an ‘adult’. - Still, an immature, sociopath and habitual pyromaniac attempts to justify his actions: “The suspect was questioned by police after a fire occurred at another *warehouse of the same company in Osaka’s Nishiyodogawa Ward on Thurs morning*. The suspect was working there at the time.”
purple_depressed_bacon
What, was going to his supervisor to make a complaint not an option so he decided on arson instead? SMDH. Well, he's going to be assigned alright...to jail.
602miko
And that's it how simple for him to set a fire?
Mark
A monster with NO Conscience I say.
Mickelicious
Assigned to the scrapheap. Clever boy.
shogun36
it was probably just his superiors giving him work assignments.
but since he was so sheltered as a kid, he thought it was “bullying.”
starpunk
Did this jerk think he was being funny or what? Food products and med supplies = destroying essential consumer goods. Causing problems for a LOT of people. And extra work for the famous firefighters of Japan - five days to put out the fire.
I've done plenty of temp jobs esp. when I was in college, granted the regular crew usually looks down on you 'young punk greenies' and the supervisors often treat them rotten - but that's no excuse for setting fires, destruction of property, endangering workers, etc. I never did anything like that. Next job for this hoser is going to scrubbing the latrines in prison. You can count on it.
oyatoi
Knives, fire; assymetric warfare tools par excellence. These copy cat incidents are the canary in the coal mine; society’s losers have had enough and are out for revenge.
smithinjapan
Good thing they can't name him, since he is legally the same as a newborn infant, because by law he will be free to do it again anywhere from tomorrow to 364 days from the time he was caught. Good old Japanese law.
smithinjapan
He can still vote, though!
Btang
suspicion of arson over a fire that destroyed more than half of a company’s warehouse
Now that is actual J crime.
wowyz
"because by law he will be free to do it again anywhere from tomorrow"
@smithinjapan I believe that. You know Japan very well!
pudus
"a fire occurred at another warehouse"
WOW!
albaleo
The age of criminal liability in Japan is 14.
In Japan, it is ruled that those who shall be subject to criminal procedure are 14 years of age or older. The minimum age at which a person shall be subject to detention during the process of investigation is also fourteen.However, it is also ruled that detained juveniles over 14 years of age shall be treated differently from adult counterparts, taking into consideration juvenile-specific mentality.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/child/report2/definition.html
kennyG
@Tomchon
Like you do
Gaijinjland
So he’s 19 and the media won’t name him because he’s a “minor” but they have no problem in naming a 20yo? The kids an idiot. If you hate your job so much go out and find another one.
Sheikh Yerboaby
19 year old as a minor........aye so he is.
19 yr old I was already traveling on vacation abroad with my friends, hanging out in pubs and nightclubs.....being an adult. Japan really needs to change the 20yr old as an adult age.....what a lot of nonsense