2021 Osaka Building Fire

On the morning of 17 December 2021, a fire broke out at approximately 10:20 a.m. local time in the Nishi Umeda Clinic for the Mind and Body, a psychiatric clinic on the fourth floor of the eight-story Dojima Kita Building in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. The clinic treated patients for depression, panic disorder, and various physical ailments, and had scheduled a counseling session at 10:00 a.m. for patients preparing to re-enter the workforce, which meant many people were present when the fire started.

According to two survivors at the reception desk, a man entered the clinic carrying a paper bag, placed it near a heater, and kicked it, spilling and igniting a flammable liquid that set the floor ablaze. Approximately seventy fire trucks and ambulances responded, and the fire was largely brought under control within about thirty minutes, with the blaze confined to a 20-square-metre area. However, because the clinic had only one escape route — with emergency stairs and elevators located outside the clinic itself — many victims were unable to flee and were overcome by smoke.

Twenty-four people were confirmed dead at the scene, and three more died later, including two women who succumbed to their injuries on 21 and 22 December, and the suspect, who died on 30 December, bringing the total death toll to 26. Fourteen of the deceased were men and ten were women, ranging in age from twenty to sixty. Medical officials and Osaka police determined that most victims died of carbon monoxide poisoning rather than direct burns.

Police suspected arson from the outset, citing traces of a flammable liquid — likely gasoline — found at the scene, along with burn patterns on the ceiling and the speed of the fire's spread. Investigators searched the home of the suspect, 61-year-old Morio Tanimoto, a former patient at the clinic, on 18 December. Evidence indicated Tanimoto had purchased ten liters of petrol in November and had an old newspaper article about the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack in his home, leading police to consider whether the attack was a copycat incident. Security footage reportedly showed Tanimoto throwing a bag containing petrol near an emergency exit, and investigators found evidence that tape may have been used to impede a door and that additional obstacles had been placed to hinder evacuation. Tanimoto himself suffered severe burns and carbon monoxide poisoning in the fire, was hospitalized in critical condition with cerebral hypoxia and brain damage, never regained consciousness, and died on 30 December.

In response to the fire, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called it a tragic incident requiring efforts to prevent recurrence, and Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura confirmed that police were investigating the fire as probable arson. Japan's Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications ordered inspections of roughly 30,000 buildings nationwide with three or more floors but only a single stairwell.