10-Year Sentence to Be Finalized over Attack on Ex-PM Kishida

Tokyo, March 30 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court has upheld lower court rulings sentencing a 27-year-old man to 10 years in prison for attacking then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with an explosive during an election campaign event in April 2023.

The Third Petty Bench of the country's top court, presided over by Justice Kimihiro Ishikane, dismissed an appeal by the man, Ryuji Kimura, on Friday. Kimura faced five charges, including attempted murder and violation of the public offices election law.

The lower court rulings will be finalized based on the unanimous opinion of all five Supreme Court judges.

According to the rulings, on April 15, 2023, Kimura threw an explosive device at Kishida and others during the campaign event at the Saikazaki fishing port in the western Japan city of Wakayama, intending to kill the then prime minister. Kishida was safely evacuated, but two people suffered injuries.

The defense denied any intent to kill people, arguing that the case amounted only to assault. In February 2025, however, Wakayama District Court ruled that the defendant did not care if people died.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]