Just about six hours after an explosive device was thrown at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of a planned speech in Wakayama on Saturday, the Japanese leader was at it again, stumping for another candidate in Chiba in front of a popular shopping complex, with an even larger audience just a few meters away.
Kishida stood on a stage, guarded by uniformed and plainclothes police officers, with a crowd of onlookers coming and going without restrictions. Despite the events earlier in the day, the prime minister even shook hands with some of them. Due to the nature of the event, there were no metal detectors or bag checks.
Meanwhile, in the resort town of Karuizawa, some 240 kilometers to the north in Nagano Prefecture, a heavy security presence was immediately noticeable Sunday, with scores of police and plainclothes officers lining the streets near the train station as the first day of a Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting kicked off.