Victims of 2021 Osaka Clinic Arson Attack Remembered

Osaka, Dec. 17 (Jiji Press)–Victims of an arson attack on a psychosomatic clinic in Osaka were remembered on Wednesday, the fourth anniversary of the 2021 incident that killed 26 people including clinic head Kotaro Nishizawa, then 49. In front of the building that housed the clinic, people related to the victims gathered and prayed for them. Nishizawa’s younger sister, Nobuko, 48, arrived at the building shortly after 9 a.m. She made offerings including tea, lit incense sticks and recited a sutra for some 10 minutes. A 42-year-old woman who taught at a kindergarten Miyuri Nishimura, who died at 21, offered flowers and a letter. The woman said she had not seen Nishimura since her graduation from the kindergarten but recently found herself wondering what she was doing. The woman learned through internet searches that Nishimura was among the victims. Describing the victim as kind and hardworking, the woman said Nishimura gave her many letters, each with a portrait of the woman, when she was teaching Nishimura. “I wanted to see how she had grown,” the woman said in tears. A man in his 40s who had been visiting the clinic for about four years to receive treatment for panic disorder makes it a rule to visit the site every year for fear that the incident will be forgotten. Nishizawa “had a big presence and was a reliable partner,” said his former patient. “When I was worried, he said, ‘You don’t have to push yourself.'” Another former patient, 44, also visited the clinic for about four years and received care from Nishizawa. “The doctor listened to me until the end without interrupting me. I wanted him to be alive,” he said. He then offered a silent prayer. The clinic on the fourth floor of the building was set on fire around 10:15 a.m. Dec. 17, 2021. Suspect Morio Tanimoto, then 61, also died in the incident. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]