Japan goes ahead with state funeral plan for slain ex-leader Abe

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a press conference after the Cabinet decision that a secretariat was set up in the Cabinet Office to prepare for the event, to be held at the Nippon Budokan with foreign dignitaries among those attending.

It will be only the second state funeral held for a former prime minister in postwar Japan.

Fully funded by the government, the funeral will be secular and simple, according to Matsuno. The government does not plan to make Sept. 27 a public holiday.

The top government spokesman reiterated that people will not be obliged to participate in a national display of grief, but concerns persist within the opposition that staging a state funeral will, in effect, compel that response.

The secretariat has about 20 staffers and is headed by Masafumi Mori, a special adviser to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Japan will convey information about the coming state funeral to countries and regions that have sent condolence messages to Japan, including Taiwan, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

Kishida expressed last week his intention to hold a state funeral for the former leader, citing his record eight years and eight months as prime minister as well as the significant recognition he garnered in the international community.

A private funeral has already been held for Abe, just days after the 67-year-old was shot and killed by a lone gunman during an election campaign speech in the western city of Nara on July 8.

The only state funeral in postwar Japan was held in 1967 for Shigeru Yoshida, who led Japan as it rose from the ashes of World War II. It was also held at the Nippon Budokan.

Abe served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007, and from 2012 until he stepped down in 2020 due to ill health. Even after giving up the leadership, he wielded considerable influence as the head of the largest faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Following his death, a number of foreign leaders extended their condolences to his family and the Japanese people. The U.S. Senate adopted a resolution honoring Abe for laying a lasting foundation for the relationship between the United States and Japan.

The opposition camp has criticized the government for going ahead with planning for the occasion, saying there are no legal provisions for holding a state funeral. It is also calling for further debate in parliament on the grounds that the public is divided over Abe's political legacy, his accomplishments and the scandals in which he became embroiled.

«It clearly violates freedom of thought and conscience protected under the Constitution,» said Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, at a protest rally outside the prime minister's office that drew several hundred people.

The cost is another issue. A funeral for former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone was held jointly by the Cabinet and the LDP in 2020, with the government shouldering half the cost, or about 96 million yen ($695,000).

Matsuno said the government will take the rising prices of goods and services into account and try to limit the costs to a «truly necessary level to hold a solemn and warm service.»

Photo: english.kyodonews.net