Japan sends final farewell to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

TOKYO – The diplomatic giant and domestically controversial former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will receive a final sendoff in 2018. State funeral attended by approximately 4,300 guests, including 700 from overseas, on tuesday.

The event kicks off at 2pm (1pm in Singapore) at the Nippon Budokan Arena, which also hosted the Olympic events, but is also just a stone’s throw from Yasukuni Shrine, considered a symbol of wartime history. is.

A public flower offering stand will be set up in Kudanzaka Park just outside the venue, and the general public can offer flowers from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Security across the capital is in full swing, with tens of thousands of police officers from across the country flocking to Tokyo to provide assistance to avoid the blunders that led to Abe’s assassination.

The idea of ​​a “state funeral” is itself very divisive. Abe’s death. He used a home-made gun out of anger at suspecting the leader’s ties to the Unification Church, a South Korea-based organization believed to have coercive tactics that have bankrupted and torn families apart. Murdered by a lone shooter.

Legal experts argue that state funerals are unconstitutional and a relic of imperial supreme law.

It will be the second time since the end of World War II that a state funeral will be held, following former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida in 1967. Former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, Japan’s second-longest-serving post-war prime minister and the only prime minister to win the Nobel Peace Prize, was not honored.

Political experts argue that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ignored the protocol by making the decision in the cabinet without going through parliamentary deliberations.

The general public is divided, with polls showing that at least 6 out of 10 people oppose a “state funeral” held 81 days after Abe’s death, and a whopping 1.66 billion yen ($1.66 billion) to commemorate Abe. 16.5 million Singapore dollars) was spent.

Acknowledging that opinions are divided among the public, Kishida’s government said no one would be forced to pay tribute to Abe.

Tuesday has not been declared a public holiday and schools have not been asked to close. Local governments are not required to fly their flags at half mast.

Two fights erupted on social media.

One of the tribute hashtags reads “Thank you Abe” and includes a link to an online digital flower donation site to commemorate the murdered prime minister. As of 7:30 am on Tuesday, over 191,000 signatures have been collected. on the website.