How Japan’s PM Was Almost Assassinated At An Event. This Is The Full Story

The tumultuous scene was reminiscent of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nine months ago, which also occurred on a campaign tour and continues to reverberate in Japanese politics, despite the fact that no one was injured and Kishida planned to continue campaigning on Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was visiting the Saikazaki port in Wakayama prefecture to support his ruling party’s up-and-comer in a local political campaign, and the blast happened not long before he was just about to start his speech.

He was cleared from the port in Wakayama after a blast was heard, yet he was safe after somebody threw an explosive gadget at a campaign event in a western port city, authorities said on Saturday April 15.

A suspect was wrestled to the ground by police, smoke filled the air, and bystanders who were screaming desperately tried to flee.

According to NHK, a young man who was thought to be a suspect was taken into custody on Saturday at the scene for allegedly throwing the explosive. A television footage showed that, a number of plainclothes and uniformed police officers surrounded the man, piled on top of him, and violently dragged him off the ground. It wasn’t quickly clear what caused the blast, however a few reports said it was a smoke or pipe bomb.

No injuries were reported in the episode, which came just before a significant international forum in Japan. According to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not permitted to speak publicly to the media, Kishida was not injured and planned to continue giving speeches later on Saturday.

Abe’s assassination, which shocked a nation that prides itself on public safety and extremely tight gun controls, came as he delivered a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. Amid a national outcry, police have tightened their protective measures following a subsequent investigation that found holes in Abe’s security.

Security has been also ramped up in Japan as senior diplomats from some of the world’s most powerful democracies arrive for Sunday’s Group of Seven foreign minister meetings. Kishida will host a May 19-21 G-7 leaders’ summit in his hometown of Hiroshima.

One observer Saturday told NHK TV that she was standing in the crowd when she saw something come flying from behind. She and her children fled when she heard a sudden loud noise. Another witness claimed that people were yelling and that prior to the explosion, he witnessed someone being apprehended.

The attack on Saturday comes before the April 23 nationwide local elections, which include several by-elections for parliamentary seats that have been lost.

Japan’s Former PM Assassinated At A Public Event (Photos)

In Abe’s assassination, the former prime minister was shot with a homemade gun during a campaign speech. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, has been charged with murder and several other crimes, including violating the gun control law.

Abe’s alleged assassin told investigators that he killed Abe, one of Japan’s most influential and divisive politicians, because of the former prime minister’s apparent links to a religious group that he hated.

In statements and in social media postings attributed to him, Yamagami said he developed a grudge because his mother had made massive donations to the Unification Church that bankrupted his family and ruined his life.

Abe’s assassination led to the resignation of top local and national police chiefs and a tightening of security guidelines for political leaders and other prominent people.

The government of Kishida hoped that the hot spring resort town of Karuizawa, where senior diplomats will meet on Sunday for the so-called Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting, would attract international attention this weekend.

The foreign ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union are expected to focus on worries over Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s increasingly belligerent rise and North Korea’s provocative string of weapons’ tests.