Japan Bids Farewell To Former Prime Minister Abe
Japan will soon bid a final farewell to the country's longest-serving prime minister with a state funeral. Abe Shinzo was shot and killed during a political rally in July.
More than 4,000 people will gather at the Nippon Budokan arena in central Tokyo. Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will speak, along with the heads of the Upper and Lower Houses, as well as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide will also deliver a eulogy on behalf of Abe's friends.
Abe's is only the second state funeral held in Japan. The other was for former Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru 55 years ago.
Members of the public have been laying flowers outside the venue to pay their respects. Flags at government offices across Japan are also being flown at half-mast.
But Tuesday's day of mourning is also a day of protests.
Some opponents of the state funeral say the government and Japanese taxpayers should not bear the entire cost of the event. Others question the rationale since only one other former prime minister has been given a state funeral since the end of World War Two.
An NHK opinion poll this month found more than half of respondents did not approve of the event. Seventy-two percent said the government had not done a good enough job explaining why a state funeral was needed.
Abe's death has also shed light on another political controversy. The suspect says he held a grudge against a religious group he claims bankrupted his family. He says he believed Abe had had close ties with the group.
The group, previously known as the Unification Church, has been accused of demanding large sums of money from its followers.
In the wake of the shooting, hundreds of Japanese lawmakers admitted ties with the group, including about half of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party's members.
Kishida has told his party's members to sever those links. Nonetheless, the latest NHK poll suggests almost two-thirds of respondents do not think the LDP has adequately addressed the matter.