Killer blaze strikes at pillar of anime industry

In a statement in Japanese, the Chinese embassy in Japan expressed condolences to those who lost their lives and sympathy for the injured. Messages of support for the studio were posted below the statement.

Founded in 1981 by animator Yoko Hatta and her husband, Hideaki, Kyoto Animation was a different kind of studio from the very beginning.

For one thing, it is 365 kilometers from Tokyo, where the vast majority of Japan's anime production houses are located.

According to a survey in 2016 by the Association of Japanese Animations, 542 of the 622 anime production companies operating in Japan, or 87 percent, are in Tokyo. The fact that KyoAni is a considerable distance from the Japanese capital is thought to represent a deeper philosophical divide in terms of the company's business practices.

Moreover, most studios in Japan employ animators on a freelance basis, a practice that has created "unlivable wages" and overwork for many in the industry, especially young people.

But by the early 1990s, Kyoto Animation had developed a culture that emphasized communication, education and full-time employment. The studio's in-house KyoAni School spent a large amount of time training young recruits, a significant percentage of them women.

"It's one of the best and largest animation firms in Japan," Tokyo film commentator Yuichi Maeda told Reuters. "With that loss of life, many of the best hands at animation in the nation are likely to be dead."

He said the studio's impact on the industry was much greater than the limited number of works it made would suggest, adding: "It's too painful to contemplate. It has a huge presence in animation here. To have this many people die at the same time will be a huge blow to the Japanese animation industry."

According to the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, Kyoto Animation's success was bolstered by the company's structure. "The numerous detailed and disparate elements of anime production were completed under its own roof, enabling the studio to maintain a high standard of work," the paper said.

But the fact that many staff members were working at the same location played a large part in the loss of so many lives on Thursday, the newspaper said.

According to a private sector credit research company quoted by Japanese media organization Nikkei, Kyoto Animation employs about 150 people. Those who died in the arson attack comprised 20 percent of the staff members.