Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is alive and well after being whisked away by his bodyguards after a small explosion as he prepared to give a speech at a fishing port in the western archipelago, Japanese media reported.

Several media outlets, including the Kyodo news agency, reported that an improvised device, apparently a “smoke agent”, was thrown by a government official and a pop was heard, but there were no immediate reports of injury or property damage. .

A man who threw an object at the Japanese prime minister was arrested on the spot at the port of Saikazaki in Wakayama Prefecture, where Fumio Kishida was scheduled to give a speech, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Official confirmation of the incident from the authorities has not yet been received. The police declined to comment.

NHK aired footage of police pinning a man to the ground and arresting him as the crowd dispersed.

Japanese authorities stepped up security after the assassination last July of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot by a man with a homemade weapon during a campaign speech.

The incident was recorded as Japan hosts G7 ministerial meetings in the north and central part of the country this weekend. A summit of the leaders of the seven most industrialized countries in the world is also scheduled for May in Hiroshima.

Source: Reuters, AFP, APE-MPE.