Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
TOKYO: Japanese and foreign dignitaries paid tribute to assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe at a controversial state funeral on Tuesday, as long lines of people gathered to offer flowers and prayers.
Abe’s ashes, carried by his widow Akie, arrived at the storied Nippon Budokan venue in the capital Tokyo, where a 19-gun salute sounded in honor of the slain ex-leader.
In a eulogy, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described the politician as a “person of courage” and listed his achievements, including efforts to strengthen Japan’s diplomatic ties.
“I feel heartbreaking grief,” Kishida said as he faced a photograph of Abe that was hung above a grand floral structure used to display his ashes, medals and the Japanese flag.
Abe was Japan’s longest-serving premier and one of the East Asian country’s most recognizable political figures, known for cultivating international alliances and his “Abenomics” economic strategy.
He resigned in 2020 over recurring health problems, but remained a key political voice and was campaigning for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) when a lone gunman killed him with a homemade weapon in the city of Nara on July 8.
The shooting sent shockwaves through a country with famously low gun-related crime and prompted international condemnation.
But the decision to give him a state funeral — only the second for a former premier in the postwar period — has provoked opposition, with about 60 percent of Japanese against the event in recent polls.
United States Vice President Kamala Harris and other world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian premier Anthony Albanese, were among those in attendance at the Budokan.
Outside, thousands of people stood in line as the ashes arrived, waiting to deliver flowers and say a prayer in two mourning tents.
Koji Takamori came all the way from northern Hokkaido with his nine-year-old son. “I wanted to thank him. He has done so much for Japan,” the 46-year-old told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The way he died was so shocking. To be honest, I also came because there has been so much opposition. It’s almost like I’m here to oppose those who are opposing this (funeral),” he said.
Those opponents were also out, marching near the tents before a demonstration in front of the parliament.
Discontent over state funeral
Abe’s accused killer, Tetsuya Yamagami, targeted the former leader believing he had ties to the Unification Church, which the attacker resented over massive donations his mother had made to the sect.
The assassination prompted fresh scrutiny of the church and its fundraising, and uncomfortable questions for Japan’s political establishment, with the LDP admitting that about half its lawmakers had links to the religious organization.
Kishida has pledged the party will sever all ties with the church, but the scandal helped fuel discontent over the state funeral.
Thousands have protested the ceremony and a man set himself on fire last week near the prime minister’s office, leaving notes reportedly expressing his objection to the event.
Some lawmakers from opposition parties are also boycotting the funeral.
The controversy has several causes, with some accusing Kishida of unilaterally approving the funeral instead of consulting parliament, and others resentful of a nearly $12-million price tag.
It is also the legacy of Abe’s divisive tenure, marked by persistent allegations of cronyism, and opposition to his nationalism and plans to reform the pacifist constitution.
Kishida’s government may be hoping the solemnity of the event, attended by an estimated 4,300 people, including 700 foreign invitees, will drown out the controversy.
Abe worked to cultivate close ties with Washington to bolster the key US-Japan alliance, and also courted a stronger “Quad” grouping made up of Japan, the US, India and Australia.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako did not attend, as neutral national figures, but Crown Prince Akishino and his wife Kiko led mourners in offering flowers at the end of the 90-minute service.