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The state funeral on Tuesday, September 27, with guests from 178 countries and territories, contrasted with the protests that criticized the pompous ceremony to dismiss the former Japanese prime minister, shot dead on July 8. Only 60% of Japanese supported holding a state funeral.
Report from Tokyo
The tribute was held at Budokan, a place reserved for martial arts, located between the controversial Yasukuni shrine, where fourteen war criminals are buried, and the Imperial Palace. He was attended, among others, by the US Vice President Kamala Harris or the former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.
These state funerals, reserved for emperors and not prime ministers, have created a lot of division.
The most emotional moment of the ceremony was the arrival of the widow, Akie, carrying her husband’s remains in an urn.
In front of a wall photograph of Abe, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida read a farewell message in which he recalled that Abe was participating in an election campaign when he was shot down.
“Always serving your country,” Kishida said.
Less than three kilometers away, in front of the seat of Parliament, citizens with colorful banners protested the tribute to a politician who had set himself the goal of rearming Japan and amending the pacifist clause of the Constitution, imposed by the United States. after winning World War II.
The ceremony, which required 20,000 police officers for security, cost 12 million euros. For calling it without first achieving consensus in parliament, Prime Minister Kishida’s popularity fell to the lowest levels since he took office in October 2021.
