Tokyo:A blast was heard on Saturday, forcing the Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida to leave a port in Wakayama, but he was unharmed, according to local media.
A disturbance in the audience where Kishida was scheduled to speak was captured on Japanese television, followed by the sound of a blast and white smoke.
According to the national broadcaster NHK and others, a man was detained at the location in western Japan. The incident was not immediately officially confirmed, and the local police declined to comment.
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NHK aired video of security personnel and police apprehending a person amid a scattering and uproarious crowd.
I was in awe. A woman who was present at the scene told the broadcaster, "My heart is still racing. Another witness at the scene told NHK that even before the blast, the crowd started to scatter in fear after hearing that an explosive had been thrown.
When the incident happened, Kishida had just finished sampling fish at the location and was about to address a crowd in support of a ruling party candidate in upcoming lower house by-elections.
It is regrettable that something like this took place in the midst of an election campaign, which forms the cornerstone of democracy. The chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) election strategy, Hiroshi Moriyama, told NHK that it was an unpardonable atrocity.
According to the broadcaster, the person who was detained was arrested on suspicion of obstructing commerce.
After the murder of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed while speaking at a campaign event in July 2022, Japan has increased security around politicians.
Tetsuya Yamagami, his alleged assassin, allegedly did so because of his connections to the Unification Church, and the incident led to information about the relationship between the sect and influential people in Japanese politics.
According to reports, Yamagami was irate with the sect over sizable donations his mother had made to them, which had put the family in financial ruin.
Abe's assassination led to a significant security review of how political figures are protected because he was speaking on a street in western Nara with little protection.
The incident occurs a day before the G7 foreign ministers arrive in Karuizawa in Nagano for talks and as the G7 climate and energy ministers convene in the northern city of Sapporo. The G7 leaders' summit will take place in Japan's Hiroshima next month.
