A doctor who treated a man suspected of carrying out a deadly arson attack on a Kyoto Animation studio five years ago has said it was "meaningful" to have saved his life.

Recounting the incident, Takahiro Ueda, 52, of the Emergency & Critical Care Medical Center at Tottori University Hospital in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, said it is significant that the suspect, Shinji Aoba, has recovered to the extent that he was able to receive a court ruling over the allegations.

On July 18, 2019, Aoba, now 46, poured gasoline at the No. 1 studio of the animation powerhouse, better known as KyoAni, in the city of Kyoto, and set it alight, leaving 36 people dead and 32 others injured. Aoba himself suffered severe burns all over his body.