A man charged with attempted murder of former Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has said in his trial that he threw a homemade explosive device near the prime minister with the aim of drawing the attention of the general public.

The 25-year-old defendant, Kimura Ryuji, is accused of injuring two people when he threw the explosive near Kishida while the then prime minister was visiting a port in Wakayama City in western Japan in April, 2023, to campaign for a Lower House by-election candidate.
Kishida was quickly evacuated, unharmed.

Kimura is standing trial at the Wakayama District Court on five charges, including attempted murder and Explosives Control Act violations.
At the start of the trial on Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, saying he did not intend to kill anyone.

At the third hearing on Thursday, the defense lawyers asked Kimura about his motive.

Kimura explained that sometime before the incident, he'd begun legal action against the government over Japan's election system. He said that when he started a social media account to inform people about his court case, it received very little attention.

Kimura said that was when he decided to throw an explosive device near the prime minister in the hope that the blast would draw attention to himself and the media would report on him and his suit against the government.

When asked what he thought about the fact that his act injured two people, Kimura said he had assumed the homemade device would not explode for a minute or so after it hit the ground, which would give anyone nearby time to escape.

Kimura stated he did not mean to hurt anyone and he expressed regret that his actions left two people injured.