Today's Edition
(The New York Times)
A man was arrested in Tokyo on Saturday and accused of throwing several incendiary devices at the headquarters of the governing Liberal Democratic Party and slamming his car into a security fence outside the nearby office of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a public broadcaster reported.
A masked suspect was taken into custody early Saturday after crashing his vehicle into a security fence outside the prime minister’s office, according to early reports from the broadcaster, NHK, which cited the police. No injuries were reported, and Ishiba was away from Tokyo in southern Japan on Saturday.
The episode is the latest in a series of violent acts targeting officials in Japan, a country known as having low rates of violent crime.
In 2022, Japan was shaken by the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had held the office longer than anyone else. The following year, a man threw a pipe bomb at Fumio Kishida, then prime minister, while he was delivering a speech in a small port city near Osaka. Kishida was unharmed.
The suspect in Saturday’s attack has been identified as a 49-year-old resident of Saitama prefecture near Tokyo, investigators told NHK. Several more incendiary devices and plastic containers probably containing kerosene were found in his vehicle, it said. Further details on the suspect or his motivations were not known.
Ishiba took office this month, succeeding the unpopular Kishida, who resigned after leading the Liberal Democrats for three years amid corruption scandals.
In its early weeks, Ishiba’s administration has also been deeply unpopular, with a poll from the local news agency Jiji Press reporting an approval rating of 28% - the lowest for the start of any administration since 2000.
Ishiba, a former defense minister, has gained a reputation for muddled policies, including a proposal to form an "Asian NATO,” which left policy experts scrambling for clarity. He has also appeared to shift from his preelection stance on issues including interest rates and nuclear energy.
Ishiba dissolved the lower house of Japan’s parliament this month, a decision that angered opposition parties. Some critics said the move, made the day before his confirmation as prime minister, could be unconstitutional.
A snap election is scheduled for October 27, which will determine whether the Liberal Democrats secure a majority in the more powerful chamber of Japan’s parliament.
