After a bomb and white smoke filled the air on Saturday during a campaign speech, local media reported that Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was safely evacuated from the location unhurt.
Less than a year had passed since the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s murder, which shocked the nation and required a security shake-up for public leaders.
When a ruckus erupted among the audience assembled to hear Kishida speak, he had just finished sampling fish at a port while in the western city to make statements in support of a candidate for the ruling party.
The prime minister turned to look behind him as security detained a person and onlookers backed off, some yelling.
A boom and white smoke were heard a short time later.
The incident was not immediately officially confirmed, and the local police declined to comment.
Witnesses at the scene mentioned having panic attacks.
“I hurriedly ran, and about ten or so seconds later, there was a huge noise, and my child began to sob. My heart is still racing because I was so shocked,” one woman said to reporters.
The broadcaster was told by a witness that “when we all stopped in front of the podium, someone started saying ‘culprit!’ or something, or ‘an explosive was thrown,’ so everyone started dispersing fast.”
Then, he continued, “about ten seconds after the offender was apprehended, there was a blast.”
According to reports, Kishida was unharmed and might still show up at later-scheduled campaign events.
“It is terrible that anything like this occurred during an election campaign, which is the cornerstone of democracy. The chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s electoral strategy, Hiroshi Moriyama, called it a “unpardonable atrocity.”
As a nation with few violent crimes and tight gun regulations, Japan can afford to be relatively casual about security at local political rallies.
However, following the murder of Abe, who was shot and died while speaking at a campaign rally in July 2022, the nation increased security around leaders.
He was purportedly targeted by Tetsuya Yamagami because of his connections to the Unification Church, and the incident sparked discoveries regarding the relationship between the two organisations.
