Police failed to ensure effective security measures were implemented, clearing the way for a bomb attack on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during election campaigning in April, according to a report released on Thursday.
The local police had requested that organizers of a stump speech at a fishing port in Wakayama, western Japan, set up a reception area to check attendees and install metal detectors at the venue, the report by the National Police Agency said.
But the organizers, including the local branch of Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and a fisheries cooperative, did not comply with the requests, saying the only people who would participate were from their groups.
The Wakayama prefectural police also did not confirm with the organizers whether they had taken any effective alternative measures, the report said.
A lone offender attacked Kishida on April 15, throwing a cylindrical object from a crowd of about 200 people ahead of a stump speech. The device exploded but Kishida was not injured, and a suspect was arrested at the scene.
The incident occurred less than a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot during election campaigning.
"We will work more closely than ever with the organizers to provide security," National Police Agency Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki said in a press conference.
The local police also asked the organizers to inspect those carrying large baggage but failed to confirm whether the checks were implemented.
Visitors were supposed to be restricted to those involved in the party or the fisheries cooperative, but the police were unaware that the party's candidate and headquarters made the speech schedule and venue public through social media and its website, the report said.
In light of this incident, the report said police should provide organizers with safety guidelines in writing and ask that stump speeches be held indoors. It also said police should keep a record of preparation procedures.
The report also said the NPA will introduce training programs to strengthen operations for safely evacuating audience members.
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