After what seemed to be a smoke bomb was hurled at Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while he was campaigning in Wakayama prefecture in western Japan, he was removed without injury. TV footage from Japan shows a commotion in the audience when Kishida is campaigning for a candidate from the ruling party at the Saikazaki fishing harbor. Just as he was ready to say anything, the camera showed a huge explosion with white smoke. When the throng dispersed in fright, the prime minister sought shelter.
According to NHK, Kishida escaped unharmed, and the police apprehended a man in his twenties or thirties at the site. Located around 40 miles southwest of Osaka city, Saikazaki is 65 kilometers away. Shock overcame me. The woman who told NHK, “My heart is still thumping quickly,” was a witness. Local police had no reaction and there was no instant formal confirmation of the occurrence. The terrible murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the midst of a legislative election campaign in July still reverberates in Japan nine months later, prompting the resignation of senior local and national police chiefs and stricter security standards for famous persons. This latest incident comes as Japan prepares to host the G7 summit, which will take place in Kishida’s home city of Hiroshima on May 19-21. The municipal elections and a lower house by-election are scheduled for April 23, and the prime minister had just completed sampling fish at the venue before making statements in favor of the ruling party’s candidate. It’s unfortunate that this took place in the midst of an election campaign, which is the bedrock of our democratic system.
The chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) election strategy team described it as “an inexcusable tragedy” in an interview with NHK. The tragedy triggered discoveries regarding the ties between the Unification Church and Japanese officials, and it is widely believed that Abe’s putative assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, targeted him because of these ties. Yamagami has been accused of murder as well as other offences, one of which is breaking a statute prohibiting the possession of firearms. Abe was assassinated while speaking on an unsecured roadway in western Nara.
