Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida denounced a pipe bomb attack at a campaign event he attended last weekend and pledged to review security procedures to ensure safety for dignitaries visiting the country for the Group of Seven summit he will host in May.
“No matter what the reason is, the use of violence to shut down free speech should never be tolerated,” Kishida told selected media from G-7 countries on Thursday at the Prime Minister’s Office, as he stressed that the attack occurred during a nationwide local election campaign.
“The election, which is the foundation of democracy, should not succumb to violence. We must carry out the election until the end,” he said, explaining why he has continued to deliver speeches since the attack on Saturday.
A man hurled a pipe bomb at Kishida at the fishing port of Saikazaki in the western prefecture of Wakayana just before he was to make a campaign speech for a local candidate from his governing party.
The moment the explosive fell near him, he was pushed away by special police and evacuated unhurt before the bomb exploded.
The alleged attacker, Ryuji Kimura, 24, was wrestled to the ground and arrested on the spot.
The attack, which targeted the prime minister less than a year after former leader Shinzo Abe’s assassination, raised questions about whether any lessons had been learned from Abe’s case, especially as Japan navigates key events like the ongoing elections and G-7 meetings.
“As we prepare to welcome many guests from around the world for the G-7 summit and other events, I feel it is very important to once again review our security measures so that our guests can visit Japan with a sense of safety,” Kishida said.
During the May 19-21 summit in his electoral constituency of Hiroshima the target of the world’s first atomic attack Kishida plans to appeal for nuclear disarmament, while pledging support for the rules-based international order and vowing to play a greater role as the only Asian member of the G-7 to bridge Western economies with the so-called Global South nations. He will also demand that Russia stop the war on Ukraine immediately.