Japan Pm Explains Significance Of Abe State Funeral
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says he will attend lawmakers' meetings while the Diet is out of session to further explain the significance of holding a state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
Kishida noted on Wednesday that Abe had assumed a heavy responsibility as the country's longest-serving prime minister.
He also said he feels strongly that Japan must respond with courtesy to the large number of requests from other countries to attend Abe's funeral.
Kishida denied that the public would be forced to mourn.
He noted that people have criticized him for giving insufficient explanations about why a state funeral should be held. He said he must respond sincerely to such criticisms.
He said that he will do his best to provide detailed explanations by returning to the initial aspirations of his government.