A monument dedicated to the victims of the July 18, 2019, arson-murder attack on Kyoto Animation’s headquarters in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, was completed on Sunday.
Thirty-six employees died and 32 others were injured in the attack. The monument was erected in a park by volunteers from Kyoto Animation and bereaved family members, NHK reported.
The monument depicts 36 birds flying toward the future as a symbol of the attack on Kyoto Animation Studio 1.
One man who lost his daughter in the incident said: “The passion and skills of the employees who died still live on in your hearts. We, the surviving family members, are proud that they continue to give hope and inspiration to so many people."
Though five years have passed since the incident, Kyoto Animation is calling on people to refrain from visiting the crime scene out of consideration for neighboring residents.
In January, the Kyoto District Court sentence Shinji Aoba to death for the crime after finding him mentally competent to be held accountable for his crimes.
Aoba had told the court he was motivated to carry out his crimes under the belief that Kyoto Animation had plagiarized a novel he entered into a contest run by the firm.
© Japan Today
11 Comments
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WoodyLee
Beautiful Artwork.
Fighto!
Bernie Wooster -
36 souls lost, hundreds of lives destroyed forever. And that is your first thought? Unbelievable.
Rest in Peace to all. Hoping this monument brings even a tiny bit of comfort to the families of the dead. They will be remembered.
Sh1mon M4sada
Much talent lost too soon. No monument can replace you.
NCIS Reruns
Hard to believe five years have already passed. This homicide by arson incident ranks as one of the top three mass-murder cases in Japan's modern history. The perpetrators in the other two cases were also alienated losers with a grudge.
Gene Hennigh
This is possibly one the most egregious crimes ever. All those people who literally burned to death is a nightmare. This studio put out some wonderous work. All that talent gone and for no good reason repels me. As for coulda shoulda woulda, these talents were murdered and 20-20 hindsight does no one any good. Look up their catalogue. Some of the best anime ever. Some of the best talent gone forever.
jeancolmar
A beautiful creative world destroyed for no good reason.
TokyoLiving
When the gallows for the killer??..
David K Anderson
While on broad terms I'm not a supporter of capital punishment (because there's no "do over" if you get it wrong), in this case there's zero doubt about the guilt of the perpetrator. He can't swing any too soon.
BertieWooster
The arsonist, Aoba had a long history of psychiatric "treatment." It evidently wasn't effective.
Derrick Smith
No word about the fact they all died because the company didn't update their fire protection. 36 birds don't mean nothing if they are just going to ignore the fact that they all would have survived had the fire suppression been current. Not to mention locking the door to the roof was pretty ridiculous as well.
BertieWooster
I wonder how much the monument cost.