A death threat has been sent to the election office of Renho, a candidate in the July 7 Tokyo gubernatorial election, investigative sources said Monday.
A lawyer for Renho, a former member of the House of Councilors, filed a police report on the death threat on Sunday. The Akasaka police station of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incident as suspected intimidation.
According to the sources, a fax message was sent to Renho's election office in the Kita-Aoyama district of Tokyo's Minato Ward on Sunday morning.
The message read, "I have obtained sulfuric acid, and I will attack lawmakers of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and their families. I will repeatedly stab Renho to death with a knife.
"I will set up explosives and detonate them on June 24."
Renho left the CDP, Japan's largest opposition party, earlier this month to run in the Tokyo gubernatorial election as an independent candidate.
A fax message containing similar threats was also sent to a Tokyo building that houses the CDP's headquarters on Sunday morning.
According to the sources, the fax messages were sent via an overseas route and did not contain any references to the Tokyo election.