A threatening message warning of an attack using sulfuric acid to blind Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has been sent to those linked to the governor, investigative sources said.
Politician Renho, who is running against Koike in the July 7 gubernatorial election in Tokyo, has also received a death threat. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incidents as suspected harassment.
The sources said on Monday that a fax message was sent that day to people associated with the regional political party Tomin First no Kai, for which Koike serves as a special adviser, and the office of a party member in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward Assembly.
The message included threats such as “I have obtained a powerful bomb and sulfuric acid,” “I will pour sulfuric acid on Yuriko Koike and blind her,” and “I will blow up Yuriko Koike’s election office just like Renho.”
The recipients have contacted the MPD.
Renho’s election office received a fax message Sunday morning threatening to “repeatedly stab Renho to death with a knife” and “set up explosives and detonate them on June 24.” The gubernatorial candidate, a former member of the House of Councilors, has filed a police report through a lawyer.
Renho left the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the country’s largest opposition party, earlier this month to run as an independent candidate in Tokyo’s gubernatorial election.
The incidents took place during the official campaign period for the gubernatorial elections, which started last Thursday.
