Tokyo police wary of lone-wolf attacks as election campaigning begins
Police keep watch during a campaign speech in Tokyo in the House of Representatives election in October 2024.
Campaigning began Friday for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, with the capital's police stepping up measures to thwart possible lone-wolf attacks after incidents involving notable politicians in recent years.
Top politicians are set to converge on Tokyo for a close contest seen as a bellwether for the national House of Councillors election this summer, in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to struggle.
"We are mobilizing the organization's full strength. We cannot create conditions that allow for the 'unexpected,'" a senior official of the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Stump speeches are a mainstay of Japanese elections, offering candidates a chance to get their message across and granting voters opportunities to meet their potential representatives.
Politicians have been targeted while campaigning in recent years, with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fatally shot during a stump speech in the city of Nara before the 2022 House of Councillors election. During an election-related appearance in Wakayama, also in western Japan, in 2023, an explosive device was hurled toward then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
More recently, a man tried to attack Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's office and the LDP's headquarters while the premier was away campaigning for last October's House of Representatives election. The suspects charged in all of the cases are believed to have acted alone.
Since the Abe and Kishida incidents, police have urged campaign organizers to step up security. The senior police official said it is becoming standard for members of the public to face inspections such as bag checks at stump speeches and people have become more cooperative since the high-profile incidents.
To ensure security during campaigning in the capital, Tokyo police created a section in April to identify potential lone-wolf attackers by monitoring social media and collating information from other departments.
Police also reached agreements with three real estate industry groups in May for the sharing of information about suspicious noises and odors in buildings, after cases in which assailants manufactured weapons and explosives in their apartments.
The police will also approach individuals loitering near locations where politicians are scheduled to appear, the official said, adding, "Anyone engaging in suspicious activity will be questioned and asked to have their belongings checked."
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