Japan’s security lapse with Kishida attack so soon after Abe’s murder was ‘embarrassing’. Should G7 leaders be worried?

On both occasions, Abe and Kishida were surrounded by onlookers, the attackers approached from behind and got within metres of their targets

While some lament ‘another serious lapse by the police’, others say G7 leaders ‘have little to worry about’ when they meet in Hiroshima next month

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Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is escorted by security officers at an election campaign event in Chiba prefecture on Saturday, hours after being evacuated unharmed from the scene of an apparent “smoke bomb” blast at another event earlier that day. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:30am, 18 Apr 2023

Less than a year after former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe was killed at a political rally, Japan’s security standards are once again under fire after an assailant managed to get close enough to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday to threaten his life.

Kishida was bundled away by security officers after what appeared to be a smoke bomb was hurled at him before he was due to give an election campaign speech in central Wakayama prefecture. Police later said the assailant had a second similar device in his backpack, along with a knife with a 13cm blade.

The attack came as environment ministers of the G7 nations were attending a summit in Sapporo and foreign ministers were meeting in the town of Karuizawa in Nagano, northwest of Tokyo.

Hiroshima, Kishida’s home constituency, is preparing to host the full summit of G7 leaders next month.

Security officers restrain Ryuji Kimura, the suspect in Saturday’s attack in Saikazaki, Wakayama prefecture. Photo: Kyodo via Reuters

Yoichi Shimada, a professor of politics at Fukui Prefectural University, said the incident represented “another serious lapse by the police”.

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