Kyoto - Animation fans gathered at
the site of Japan's worst mass killing in 18 years on Friday,
laying flowers and offering prayers for the 33 people killed in
an arson attack on an animation studio.
A man had on Thursday shouted "die", and that he had been
plagiarised, before pouring what appeared to be petrol in the
three-storey studio of Kyoto Animation and setting it ablaze.
On Friday, mourners gathered in the rain at the edge of a
police cordon around the charred building.
"It's hard to put into words how I feel," said 27-year-old
animation fan Yuichi Kumami, who had taken time off work at his
company in nearby Osaka to lay flowers at the site.
"They may not be able to produce the same kind of works
again and it was my hope that there would be more memorable
works in the future, but that may be impossible now and that is
very saddening," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
Flowers and a drawing with anime characters dedicated to the victims of the fire are seen left outside the Kyoto Animation building which was torched by arson attack. Picture: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
A pillar of Japanese pop culture, animation has become a
major cultural export, winning fans around the world.
Kyoto Animation has an outsized role in the industry, with
its influence outstripping the list of works it has produced.
Police on Thursday detained a 41-year-old man who had been
seen pouring what appeared to be petrol at the building, public
broadcaster NHK reported.
Kazuko Yoshida, 78, said she lived close to the site and had
smelt smoke on Thursday. From her second-floor window, she saw
smoke and helicopters.
"I wonder why the company was targeted, why those people had
to be caught up in this. It sounds like the man who did it
wanted to die," she said.
"If he wanted to die he should have died alone, why did he
have to involve other people? He is a terrible person."
An American fan of Kyoto Animation, 26-year-old Blake
Henderson from Alabama, heard about attack while on a visit to
Kyoto and came to pay his respects.
"I love fighting games, all things about Japan," said
Henderson, who wants to work in Japan as an English teacher. "I
love Japan so much and this one incident won't change my entire
perspective on Japan, but it still hurts."
One 23-year-old university student paid his respects before
going to his lessons. He said he was a fan of "anime", as
Japanese animation is known.
"You hear about gun killings overseas, but anyone can get
their hands on gasoline and that is pretty frightening," he
said. "You can't stop people from buying gasoline, perhaps
there's a way to offer help to people who might be tempted to
commit crimes."
One elderly man passing by on his bicycle said the building
did not appear to have a fire escape.
"I think that was a big reason why so many people died," he
said.