Mourners laid flowers Saturday on the first anniversary of a deadly fire at an Osaka mental health clinic that claimed the lives of 26 people and the suspected arsonist.
The victims of the fire on the morning of Dec. 17, 2021, in Osaka's Kita Ward included regular visitors to the facility and its director, Kotaro Nishizawa, 49. The fire occurred on a Friday, when the clinic would hold a scheduled group therapy session for people on absence from work.
Shuichiro Sato, who runs a nearby dental clinic, said that "even now when I pass the building, I look up. I think that what happened will always stay with me. When I think of the bereaved families, I feel so deeply sorry."
The 61-year-old suspect, Morio Tanimoto, is alleged to have started the blaze at the clinic by setting gasoline on fire. He had been to the business 114 times since 2017, and died in hospital about two weeks after the incident before police could question him.
His motives remain unknown, although police said data found from his smartphone suggested that in October 2021 he had been looking into "extended suicide," in which an individual who wishes to die commits mass murder.
Prosecutors posthumously dropped a case against Tanimoto over charges of murder and arson in March, shortly after it was referred to them by police.
Former patients praised clinic director Nishizawa's contributions to their lives, including 57-year-old Toshiya Tanaka, who decided to quit his job and become a bus driver after speaking with him. Tanaka lamented that he never got a chance to tell the clinic director he now does "work that means something to me."
Related coverage:
Prosecutors drop case of dead suspect in Osaka clinic arson
Death toll of victims from Osaka mental clinic arson in Dec. rises to 26
Suspect in fatal Osaka mental clinic fire dies
