Japanese prosecutors have officially charged a 24-year-old man with attempted murder and other offenses in the explosives attack on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in April. The incident occurred while Mr. Kishida was campaigning for elections in a small fishing port in Wakayama, western Japan. The suspect, Ryuji Kimura, threw a homemade pipe bomb at Mr. Kishida, who fortunately escaped unharmed. However, two individuals sustained minor injuries from the attack. Kimura was immediately apprehended and underwent a three-month psychiatric evaluation to determine his mental fitness for trial.
The bomb used in the attack was deemed potentially lethal by authorities. In addition to the attempted murder charge, prosecutors also indicted Kimura for violating gun and sword control laws, as well as explosives control laws. The Wakayama District Court accepted the indictment but has not yet set a trial date. The indictment asserts that Kimura intended to kill Mr. Kishida and caused injuries to a police officer and a local resident in the audience. Kyodo News reported that investigators discovered Kimura had purchased the explosives used to make the bomb in November, around the same time he lost a lawsuit against the government regarding the election system.
The attack occurred nearly a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot while campaigning in Nara, western Japan. Gun and bomb violence is rare in Japan, and these attacks on prominent figures, such as Abe and Kishida, shocked the nation. As a result, there has been an increase in police protection for dignitaries and a reassessment of safety measures during election campaigns. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno condemned the attack and pledged the police’s utmost efforts to safeguard election campaigning and other public events.