By Sarah Baafi
Ryuji Kimura, 25, received a 10-year prison sentence Wednesday for the attempted murder of Japan’s former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The incident occurred in April 2023 when Kimura hurled a pipe bomb at Kishida during an election campaign event in Wakayama. The explosion caused minor injuries to a police officer and a member of the public, though Kishida himself was unharmed.
During questioning, Kimura stated his intent was not to kill Kishida, but to object to Japan’s election age regulations that prevented him from running for office. He also aimed to draw attention to a dismissed civil lawsuit he filed in 2022, challenging the constitutionality of the age restriction. The defense argued that Kimura did not expect the bomb to cause serious harm, but the court ruled the explosives were powerful enough to be fatal.
Presiding Judge Keiko Fukushima emphasized the severity of the crime, stating that “targeting a serving prime minister caused significant anxiety to society as a whole.” In addition to attempted murder, Kimura was convicted of violating explosives regulations and firearms control laws. His sentence is five years shorter than the prosecution’s request.
The attempted attack on Kishida, occurring less than a year after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has heightened concerns about the security of political figures in Japan. The incident has prompted scrutiny of security measures in place to protect the nation’s leaders.
