Police search SDF base after officer's arrest over Chinese embassy entry

TOKYO — Police on Sunday searched a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force base in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki in connection with an officer's alleged unlawful entry into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo about a week before.

Kodai Murata, a 23-year-old second lieutenant based at the GSDF's Camp Ebino in Miyazaki Prefecture, was quoted as telling investigators he entered the embassy site Tuesday to "convey my opinions to the ambassador" and planned to kill himself to "surprise" them if rebuffed, according to Tokyo police.

The suspect has also suggested that he wanted China to refrain from making hard-line remarks toward Japan. No one was injured in the incident.

The incident occurred as relations between Japan and China have increasingly deteriorated following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks in November suggesting that an attack on Taiwan could prompt a response by Japan's Self-Defense Forces.

Murata was initially detained by embassy staff before he was arrested by police, with a knife believed to be his found in the bushes on the premises.

According to investigative sources, Murata has said that, after entering the embassy grounds, he "hid in shrubbery and called out to embassy staff."

Murata has said he left his garrison around Monday noon, before traveling to Tokyo by highway bus and bullet train, and staying at an internet cafe. He did some shopping after arriving at Roppongi Station in Tokyo about 90 minutes before breaking into the nearby embassy grounds, according to the sources.

The suspect appears to have entered by climbing over a wall with barbed wire, they said.

Murata, who joined the GSDF in March 2025, graduated from the officer candidate school in January this year and was assigned to Camp Ebino, according to the GSDF.

© KYODO