Why Japan’s Prime Minister Stunned the World with His Lack of Security Measures

The fishermen who caught the man accused of attacking a Japanese politician again were shocked by how little protection was given to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Fisherman Tsutomu Konishi was watching Kishida at a campaign event at a fishing port when something flew through the air and fell close to the prime minister. A security guard quickly put a bulletproof case over it and all the fishermen around quickly surrounded the person who threw it.

Konishi, a 41 year-old from the small fishing area, said he was shocked and stunned when he heard about the crime happened in his hometown. He was wondering what Japan should do to better protect public figures like the Prime Minister. Konishi suggested that it may be necessary to have a metal detector if there is someone visiting.

Masaki Nishide, a 55-year-old fisherman from Saikazaki, was at an event last Saturday. Most people there were local residents and supporters of the candidate. One person in particular caught his eye; it was a young man wearing a silver-gray backpack.

The rest of the attendees wore plain clothes, so the guy with the backpack stood out to Mr. Nishide. He thought that if he had been responsible for security, he would have asked the young man to check his bag.

After the attempted attack on the prime minister, one of the fishermen grabbed the suspect by the neck, another pushed his head down, and Konishi seized him by the leg. All of them held him tight while police officers pulled him to the ground.

Nine months ago, an assassination took place while a campaign was going on. The person who got assassinated was the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After this incident, police had to increase their safety measures which they noticed were missing before this incident. During a campaign speech, Prime Minister Abe died from a gun shot made from a homemade gun. A man named Tetsuya Yamagami is responsible for the crime and has been charged with murder as well as other crimes for not obeying the gun control laws.

Yamagami explained to the police why he killed Abe, who was a popular and controversial leader in Japan. Yamagami mentioned that his mom had given too much money to a religious group called the Unification Church which led to his family being bankrupted and wrecked his life.

In Japan, not many people commit violent crimes since there are strict laws about gun use. However, recently there have been worries about people making homemade guns and bombs. Also, some people randomly attacked others with knives on train stations and set fires to places.

Every prime minister is guarded by teams of police officers. But when it comes to Cabinet ministers or past leaders, they don’t get as much protection as prime ministers do.

At political campaigns in Japan, people can get really close to the important people there. At one recent event for Kishida, the front-row audience was close enough to touch them! One person was hurt because something that exploded cut his arm. A guy named Ryuji Nakamura was arrested since he is suspected of throwing an explosive device at Kishida.

The police called a team to investigate a house in the Hyogo prefecture. It is part of an effort to find out if anyone there was making bombs. The investigation is taking place because Japan is having local elections and will also be hosting meetings with other countries between May 19-21. Diplomats from those countries have already arrived in Karuizawa over the weekend for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting.

Isao Itabashi, an expert on keeping people safe, said on TV that the recent attack made us think about how elections are held. It’s really hard to protect important politicians during campaigns and it is also difficult to make sure they have a secure election while still keeping it free.

Kiyotaka Hamada, 70, who is part of a fishing group, said he felt something hit his shoulder right after he heard a loud bang and began running. Police took his jacket to check if maybe he was hit by any pieces from the explosion. He also expressed his confusion about why anyone would want to cause trouble in that area.

Hamada and other fishermen are worried about not being able to work and make money while the port is closed for an investigation. They had worked very hard in their village to prepare for the Prime Minister’s first ever visit, but now they don’t have an opportunity to go out on the sea.