Japan jails pipe-bomb attacker for trying to murder ex-prime minister Fumio Kishida

Name: Heightened security at G7 meetings after apparent smoke bomb attack on Japanese PM
Uploaded: 2025-02-19T05:39:31.000Z
Duration: 1 min 51 s
Description: Heightened security at G7 meetings after apparent smoke bomb attack on Japanese PM

Ryuji Kimura, 25, was found guilty on Wednesday of attempted murder in the April 15, 2023 attack

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Ryuji Kimura (centre) is apprehended by police after he threw a homemade pipe bomb at Japan’s former prime minister Fumio Kishida in Wakayama, western Japan, on April 15, 2023. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Associated Press

Published: 1:39pm, 19 Feb 2025Updated: 3:26pm, 19 Feb 2025

A Japanese court on Wednesday convicted a man who threw a home-made pipe bomb at Japan’s former prime minister Fumio Kishida at a 2023 campaign event, sentencing him to 10 years in prison, court officials said.

Ryuji Kimura, 25, was found guilty of attempted murder in the April 15, 2023 attack on Kishida at a small fishing port in the western city of Wakayama, as well as four other crimes including violations of laws on explosives and other weapons.

At stake was whether Kimura intended to commit murder.

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Heightened security at G7 meetings after apparent smoke bomb attack on Japanese PM

The Wakayama District Court said in the ruling that Kimura was aware of the potential for a fatality in his attack, according to the Kyodo News agency. The ruling said the attack at an election campaign event was a serious challenge to democracy and posed a significant danger to many people, Kyodo reported.

“The sense of anxiety caused to society by targeting the incumbent prime minister is significant,” judge Keiko Fukushima said, according to public broadcaster NHK.

“Severe punishment is needed to prevent copycats, and it cannot be underestimated that he has seriously disrupted the electoral system, which is the basis of democracy,” she said.

Kimura, at an opening session of the trial in early February, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, saying he did not intend to kill Kishida. He said he was dissatisfied with Japan’s election system and that he only wanted to get public attention by targeting a famous politician.