It has been one week since an explosive device was thrown near Prime Minister Kishida, who was visiting to support the election in Wakayama City, on the 22nd.
What happened on the ground at that time?
Here is a summary of the structure of explosives and the suspects that we have learned from our interviews so far.
What happened at the scene?
The incident occurred around 4:15 a.m. on April 11.
At the Saikazaki Fishing Port in Wakayama City, Prime Minister Kishida was about to give a speech when explosives were thrown at his feet.
Prime Minister Kishida was standing with his back to him, but when he noticed the clanging sound of a cylindrical explosive falling, he turned around and made a gesture as if to look at his feet.
A police officer who was nearby unfolded a protective board and ran over to evacuate the explosives and the Prime Minister, pushing them out. After this, the Prime Minister evacuated with the police officers and was safe.
The person who threw the explosives at this time was Ryuji Kimura, 24, an unemployed suspect from Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture, who was in the audience. He has another silver tube in his hand, and you can see the gesture of lighting it with a lighter.
Immediately afterwards, the people around me seized me.
At this time, the distance between Kimura and the prime minister was about 10 meters.
About 50 seconds after Kimura was arrested, there was a thud of explosion at the scene and white smoke rose from near where the prime minister was standing.
Kimura was then loaded into a police car and taken to the police station.
It lasted about five minutes.
Did you use a homemade "pipe bomb"?
Two tubes, believed to be made of metal, were seized from the explosion site.
The two are very similar in shape, and according to investigators, they are both believed to be "pipe bombs."
One of the two exploded after the suspect threw it, and the other was believed to have been in his hand when he was seized and did not explode.
If you look at the video from that time, it is a silver tube and about 2 cm long.
It seems to be a structure in which both sides of the cylinder are covered and gunpowder is packed inside, which ignites and explodes.
When the police examined the one that had not exploded, it seemed that it was "black powder" used in fireworks, etc., and the outside of the cylinder could be seen from the video that looked like a nut and a conductor.
The person who exploded was found on a cage net next to a warehouse some 40 meters away.
It seems to have hit the warehouse directly and fell on the net.
In addition, the part of the cylinder that appeared to be the lid was stuck into the wall of the container about 60 meters away.
The container seemed to be made of wood, and the hole in the part where it was inserted was about 2 meters high from the ground, and was about 3 cm long and 6 cm wide.
It is believed to have passed right by the audience after the explosion.
When police searched the suspect's home, they found powder, what appeared to be gunpowder, what appeared to be metal pipes, and tools, and they believe the suspect made the bomb himself.
(Firearms critic Tetsuya Tsuda)
"If it were a one-piece metal bomb, the entire bomb would burst and cause damage to the surrounding area, but this time it was a pipe type, and the shock of the gunpowder explosion blew only the lid off and rebounded from the main body and scattered, creating a kind of rocket-like state. If there are so many holes in a wooden container, it is quite powerful. The venue had a roof and the storeroom was not very high, so it seems to have flown just over the heads of the audience, and if it had been hit, it could have been fatal. It's a complete weapon, a weapon."
Kimura's steps
It has been learned that Kimura, who lives in Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture, had taken a train and bus to the scene on the day of the incident.
On the morning of the day of the incident, I left my home and boarded the 7 a.m. bus. Then, after 8 am, I got on the train from Kawanishi-Noseguchi Station of Hankyu Corporation. After that, it is believed that he arrived at Wakayamashi Station of the Nankai Electric Railway after 10 a.m. via central Osaka such as Umeda and Namba.
After stopping at a supermarket in front of the station, they are believed to have taken a bus and arrived at the bus stop near the fishing port at 11:13 a.m.
After getting off the bus, Kimura is believed to have walked to the speech venue at the fishing port.
A security camera at a restaurant about 150 meters away from the venue shows a person who appears to be a suspect walking alone (point 1 on the map). He is carrying a backpack, wearing a mask, and holding an umbrella in his hand.
A camera at a different angle at the same location shows the motorcade apparently carrying the Prime Minister walking along the road after passing (point 2 on the map). I am carrying a gray rucksack.
After that, hold a handbag in your left hand holding an umbrella and walk towards the site (point 3 on the map)
Footage taken by the media just before the start of the cheering speech also shows a person believed to be Kimura walking to the venue where the audience was gathered.
Seven minutes later, at around 7:11 a.m., Prime Minister Kishida appeared at the speech venue, and the suspect walked through the audience looking toward the Prime Minister.
Explosives are believed to have been thrown shortly after.
The suspect was in possession of a lighter when he was arrested, and in his backpack were found a metal plate, spoon, lighter, a small bottle containing black powder believed to be black powder, and a water bottle.
It is possible that the metal plates were put in to protect themselves in case the explosives in the rucksack exploded.
Also in the handbag was a fruit knife with a blade of about 13 centimeters.
Why did you start the incident?
In response to the police investigation, Kimura remained silent and his motive is unknown.
On the other hand, Kimura filed a lawsuit against the government for damages during last year's House of Councillors election, claiming that he could not run for office because there was a provision for the age of eligibility and that he could not prepare a deposit.
The Twitter account, which appears to belong to him, has repeatedly posted the contents of the trial and his own arguments since last year.
Immediately after his arrest, he learned that he was trying to ask his lawyer, who had filed another case over the deposit, to defend himself through the police.
Police are carefully investigating whether dissatisfaction with the electoral system is the motive.
The following is the chronological order.
<June<b2022> 6, 2>22
・ House of Councillors election announcement
・ Kimura prepares
a complaint seeking damages from the government June 6
・ Kimura files a lawsuit
The first tweet on
June 24 on an account believed to be the person. Attaching a photograph of what appears to be the complaint, he said, "A plaintiff in his early 6s sued the government for failing to run for the House of Councillors. Requiring the age of majority or older and not allowing candidates to run unless they pay a large sum of 27 million yen are clearly restrictive elections."
July 7 ・ Shooting incident
of former Prime Minister Abe July 8 ・ House of Councillors election Counting of votes
July 7
・ Prime Minister Kishida announces
state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe August 10
・ Print out the website of a support group for the first oral argument
and another trial over the deposit money in Tokyo and submit it to the court. "What is being held in Japan is a limited election, and universal suffrage is not held, and it is natural that political corruption will be rampant if the people cannot run for office," he posted
on Twitter on
September 7, citing the news of the Diet reply, saying, "Prime Minister Kishida is also a hereditary third generation. People who ignore the will of the people cannot usually become politicians."
・ A person believed to be Kimura participated in a city administration report meeting of a city council member at the time of Kawanishi City. A member of parliament who responded said, "He seemed to be interested in becoming a city councilor, and since he was not eligible to be elected, he was talking about asking for the law to be amended so that he could be elected.
・Former Prime Minister Abe's state funeral will be held on
October 14, and the second oral argument / conclusion will
be held. On Twitter, the suspect submitted
a brief, saying, "This is the end of the trial, and the first time is actually a one-time trial because the defendant and the government fled from answering." The Kishida Cabinet argues
that "such a challenge to democracy should not be tolerated" for forcing the state funeral of former Prime Minister Abe only by a Cabinet decisionNovember 8
, and the Kobe District Court in the first instance dismisses
Kimura's complaintNovember 5
・ While listing the name of the judge on Twitter, he posted, "We will continue to appeal and win democracy." The date of the appeal is also
December 1, 9
, and the appeal will be filed
at the Osaka High Court <March 8, 3>9
, the first oral argument / conclusion
of the second trial ・ On Twitter, he said, "It was a sudden conclusion after refusing to deliberate, and the lawlessness of the Osaka High Court was exposed. Restricting suffrage, which is a fundamental human right, is absolutely unacceptable," he posted
on Twitter around 24:9
p.m. on April 27. "We only vote, we are Japan in a democratic-style tyrannical state," posted
on April 10 ・ Liberal Democratic Party announces
the schedule of this support speech on its websiteApril 7
・ Attacked the venue of Prime Minister Kishida's speech and arrested
・ Request
to the lawyer in charge of another trial over the deposit to defend the case May 2
, judgment scheduled for the second trial
What kind of person is Kimura?
What kind of person is the suspect Ryuji Kimura who initiated the incident?
Kimura's family told the police, "I don't have a regular job and have been confined to my house for the past few years, so I don't know why this incident occurred."
A neighbour said, "I was impressed by the polite way he greeted me when we met, and I saw him gardening with his mother in his garden many times."
In his elementary school graduation essay collection, Kimura cited "pastry chef or inventor" as his dream for the future, saying, "I want to make a lot of sweets that people who eat them will want to keep secret," and "I want to make machines that are useful to people, such as cars that can be ridden safely and robots that support the elderly living alone."
A woman who knew her elementary school days said, "When I was in elementary school, I only had the image of a cheerful and energetic child. I was surprised because I don't think he would cause such an incident."
On the other hand, when I was in junior high school, I had a different impression of the people around me.
(A woman who knew the suspect from elementary and junior high school)
"Kimura-kun was a playful character in elementary school, lively and cheerful, but as soon as he entered junior high school, he stopped talking and became a shadowy character. I don't really know why."
(Male classmate) "I often saw him coming to school early in the morning and prostrating himself at his desk, and I didn't have much impression of him talking or playing with his friends in the classroom." (Female classmate)
"I don't remember much conversation, but he was a quiet student at school."
Kimura wrote a sentence titled "About Light" in his junior high school graduation essay collection.
"When people see light, they often associate it with hope, which shows that humans are so dependent on light."
This is because it is a celestial body that cannot escape not only matter but even 'light' due to its strong gravity." "The reality of a time machine is that it will not be a story unless you first exceed the speed of light, so the day will never come when you will worship a time machine."
In my letters to my classmates, I wrote only one handwritten word, "Thank you."
What will be the focus of the investigation going forward?
Regarding the future investigation, Masataka Kamei, a former prosecutor, said, "Since it is clear that he obstructed the election speech, we are currently investigating the crime of obstruction of business, but it is important that it appears that he used and manufactured explosives and then interfered with the election.
On top of that, he lists three points for future investigations.
■ Point (1) At the moment of clarification
of the motive, Kimura continues to remain silent about the investigation. Kamei said, "What is important is the purpose and motive, as to what purpose the suspect committed this crime. The subjective circumstances are very important. If it is completely silenced, I think it will be very difficult to elucidate because we can only infer it from the evidence seen indirectly from the outside."
■Point (2) Whether or not to
conduct a psychiatric evaluation It is known that Kimura was dissatisfied with the electoral system and was suing the government for damages. Kamei analyzes that "the fact that a person who is interested in politics or election campaigns and even litigates an act that involves the use of explosives that may kill a large number of people in some cases is a gap between the act and the result, and the image of the person cannot be fully connected.
■Point (3) Whether
or not it is a violation of the Public Offices Election Act Kamei points out that what is characteristic of this case is whether it can be said that the election campaign was obstructed. Kamei said, "Election interference in violation of the Public Offices Election Act is recalled. It is believed that the defendant who was arrested and charged in the attack on former Prime Minister Abe was not very interested in political activities or election campaigns, but it remains to be seen whether Kimura did so with the intention of influencing the electoral system and the state of politics. If it is a challenge to the electoral system, which is the basis of democracy, I think sentencing will have a very big meaning and will determine the nature of this case."