TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida returned to the campaign trail after being targeted by an explosive device at an event he attended in central Japan, weeks before he hosts the Group of Seven world leaders for a summit.
A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion he threw an explosive in Kishida’s direction just as he was about to give a speech to a crowd in the western prefecture of Wakayama, Kyodo News said, citing sources close to the investigation. Kishida was evacuated unharmed, and later resumed his schedule of speeches ahead of a series of by-elections. One police officer was slightly injured.
The event has chilling echoes of the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a stump speech before last year’s upper house elections. Five by-elections are set to be held next weekend, including in the constituency left vacant by Abe’s death.
