Photo/Illutration Visitors see the arson scene on July 28 in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

KYOTO--The Kyoto District Court on Aug. 30 handed down a four-year prison sentence to Shogo Arimoto for setting multiple buildings on fire in an ethnic Korean community in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture.

Presiding Judge Keisuke Masuda said in his ruling that the crime was "a violent act based on prejudice and ill will toward ethnic Koreans.”

Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison sentence for Arimoto, 23, an unemployed resident of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture.

Arimoto had admitted to the charges at the first hearing of his trial and said he harbored “antagonistic feelings toward Koreans.”

According to his indictment and other sources, Arimoto set an empty house on fire with a lighter in the Utoro district of Uji on Aug. 30, 2021.

Seven buildings in the district were destroyed or partially damaged in the blaze.

Arimoto had also set fire to a property that belonged to the Aichi prefectural chapter of an ethnic Korean organization and a Korean school in Nagoya’s Nakamura Ward on July 24, 2021.

Koreans made the Utoro district their home after they were mobilized during World War II to build an airfield in the prefecture for Japan’s war efforts. They and their descendants continued to reside in the district throughout the postwar years.

Their land was later resold, and the new landowner sued the residents to force them to vacate the plots.

The residents lost their court battle in 2000. But part of the land was purchased with funds donated by supporters from in and outside Japan.

The area has recently seen a spate of development.

The central government, along with the Kyoto prefectural government, are currently building public housing for the residents there.

And the Utoro Peace Memorial Museum opened in April this year to keep the local history alive.

Arimoto said he thought starting a fire would “damage exhibit items and prevent the museum from opening.”

The museum lost about 40 items due to the fire, including a signboard that was supposed to be on display.

“I wanted to have a feeling of accomplishment,” Arimoto said.

The deputy director of the museum, Kim Su Hwan, 46, asked the court to make an example of him.

“If the court punishes (Arimoto) as a mere arson case, it will encourage hate crimes,” he said during the trial.

The prosecution said Arimoto committed the crime because he was prejudiced against ethnic Koreans.

Prosecutors argued Arimoto’s prejudices, preconceptions and motivations to commit the crime were “self-indulgent” and that the “manner of the crime was heinous.”

They said the emotional request by the victims for a harsh penalty “needs to be considered as much as possible when determining the appropriate punishment.”

In its closing argument, the defense asked for leniency, as Arimoto had become “isolated at home and in society and he grew desperate.”

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