Japan PM Kishida unhurt after smoke bomb attack; questions raised over security protocol

Mr Ryuji Kimura is alleged to have thrown an explosive device at Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a speech. PHOTO: REUTERS

TOKYO – Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will not be cowed by political terrorism after he was evacuated unhurt seconds before an apparent smoke bomb exploded at a campaign rally on Saturday.

The incident, which had echoes of the fatal shooting of former premier Shinzo Abe just nine months ago by a culprit who built a homemade gun, has again raised questions about Japan’s security measures for VIPs.

Mr Kishida was visiting the Saikazaki fishing port in the western prefecture of Wakayama to deliver a speech in support of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidate for national by-elections later in April. 

The Prime Minister mingled with the crowd, sampling shrimp and sea bream sashimi and taking photos, and was about to start his speech when the attacker lobbed a cylindrical object in his direction.

The metallic canister landed with a loud thud behind Mr Kishida, whose back was to the crowd, but did not explode immediately. News pictures show him turning and looking at the ground before he was spirited away by a security detail seconds before a bang.

Barely an hour later, Mr Kishida was back on the campaign trail outside the Wakayama train station. Five Diet seats are at stake in the by-elections on April 23, with mayoral and city assembly polls also held on the same day.

“I apologise for the worry and inconvenience I have caused,” he said. “Elections are the bedrock of democracy, and each and every one of you play the lead roles. In that spirit, I will continue to stand on the stage for street speeches.”

Violent crime is extremely rare in Japan. Mr Kishida’s fortitude was roundly welcomed across the political spectrum as a message that Japan will not yield to political violence.

Police arrested on the spot Mr Ryuji Kimura, 24, from Kawanishi in Hyogo prefecture – a city two hours by car from the crime scene – for forcible obstruction of business. The motive is still unclear, and local media cited police sources as saying that Mr Kimura is keeping mum until a lawyer is present.

Smoke billows after an explosion at Saikazaki fishing port in Wakayama prefecture. PHOTO: REUTERS

Experts noted that Mr Kishida’s security detail of uniformed and plain-clothes officers would have been larger than Mr Abe’s in 2022 as he is the incumbent prime minister. The officers were also quick to subdue Mr Kimura, who was reportedly carrying a second bomb. Out of the crowd of 200 people, one police officer sustained slight injuries.

Anti-terrorism expert Isao Itabashi told public broadcaster NHK that the security detail had acted decisively to evacuate Mr Kishida. But he added that the intimate nature of Japan’s election rallies, where politicians routinely press the flesh with the public, is a major security risk that might need to be reassessed. No bag checks were conducted on Saturday.

Nihon University crisis management expert Mitsuru Fukuda was scathing, writing on Twitter: “It is just a blessing within a series of misfortunes that the bomb was not powerful and failed to explode immediately. There are obviously deficiencies in a security plan that allowed such an attack to happen so easily.”

Top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said he has ordered the National Police Agency to hold a post-mortem and strengthen measures to protect VIPs.

Questions will inevitably be raised over Japan’s security readiness to hold the Group of Seven Hiroshima summit in May, though unlike election rallies, a nationwide detail of police officers will be activated, and the leaders kept away from the public.

On Saturday, after speaking at Wakayama station, Mr Kishida campaigned in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends an election campaign in Chiba. PHOTO: AFP

The audience was kept at a distance as he spoke outside Shin-Urayasu station, with contact kept to a few handshakes before he left. There was also a sizeable presence of police officers and police dogs.

His 10-minute speech touched on such issues as security and childcare policy, without mentioning one topic that the Prime Minister would not want to define the election – the Wakayama attack.

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