People queue up to get a ticket for a seat to observe a court's ruling on an attempted murder trial for Ryuji Kimura, who threw a homemade pipe bomb at former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a 2023 campaign event, outside Wakayama District Court in Wakayama, western Japan Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Shohei Miyano/Kyodo News via AP)
FILE - A suspect, center on the ground, is caught by police after he allegedly threw "the suspicious object," as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Saikazaki port for an election campaign event in Wakayama, western Japan Saturday, April 15, 2023.(Kyodo News via AP, File)
A vehicle believed to be carrying Ryuji Kimura, who threw a homemade pipe bomb at former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a 2023 campaign event, arrives at Wakayama District Court in Wakayama, western Japan Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Shohei Miyano/Kyodo News via AP)
People queue up to get a ticket for a seat to observe a court's ruling on an attempted murder trial for Ryuji Kimura, who threw a homemade pipe bomb at former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a 2023 campaign event, outside Wakayama District Court in Wakayama, western Japan Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Shohei Miyano/Kyodo News via AP)
Ryuji Kimura, center, is caught by police after he threw a homemade pipe bomb at Japan's former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a campaign event at a fishing port in Wakayama, western Japan, on April 15, 2023. (Kyodo News via AP)
FILE - A suspect, center on the ground, is caught by police after he allegedly threw "the suspicious object," as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Saikazaki port for an election campaign event in Wakayama, western Japan Saturday, April 15, 2023.(Kyodo News via AP, File)
TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court on Wednesday convicted a man who threw a homemade 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 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.
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 said.
Kimura, at an opening session of the trial in early February, to attempted murder, saying he didn’t 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.
The then-prime minister was unhurt, but two people sustained minor injuries. Kimura was arrested on the spot.
The attack came about a year after the assassination of during a campaign speech in Nara, another city in western Japan.
Prosecutors said Kimura had a murder intent, noting that the bomb Kimura threw at Kishida was potentially lethal, and demanded a 15-year prison term.
Gun-related crime is rare in Japan because of strict gun control laws, but there has been a series of high-profile knifings and other attacks using homemade guns and explosives.
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