I translated some piece of jp news about the guy's background. tl;dr trainfag, underwear thief, robber, muh novel
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During his twenties, the Kyoto arson suspect was an underwear thief and his family had to pay for his rent.
Shinji Aoba (41), unemployed resident of Saitama city, has been secured by the police, in an unconscious state with burns all over his body. On July 20, he was transferred from a hospital in Kyoto City to a university hospital in Osaka by helicopter.
"Shinji Aoba has three brothers/sisters. His parents divorced when he was around 5 and he lived with his father, but their financial situation was apparently very dire. He was attending a judo club in elementary school and other activities, but didn't have much friends. He apparently left quite a dark impression during middle school and tended to stay at home because of bullying." (police/city official)
"I don't remember anything (about Shinji Aoba). When I heard the news I took a look at my graduation album and noticed his existence for the first time. He wasn't on the group shot taken at the graudation ceremony, his picture was taken separately and added there, so I guess he amost never came to school." said one classmate of Aoba during middle school.
After graduating from middle school, Shinji Aoba followed night time classes at a high school in Saitama. he worked various jobs after that, from postal delivery to convenience store worker, frequently changing jobs. His father passed away around that time and he became isolated from any family.
"He never felt very sociable, but he was serious at work and was coming by bicycle every time" (an acquaintance)
But Aoba became involved with the police during the spring of 2006.