Long queues of people arrived to pay their respects to the assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe at a contentious state funeral on Tuesday. Dignitaries from Japan and beyond attended.
Akie, Abe’s widow, took his ashes to the revered Budokan arena in Tokyo, where a 19-gun salute was fired in memory of the deceased former leader.
The motorcade transporting his remains left his widow’s home in the capital and passed a line of standing, armed soldiers wearing white uniforms.
As the ashes arrived, thousands of Japanese citizens lined up outside the Budokan to bring flowers and offer prayers inside two mourning tents.
Toru Sato, 71, leaned on his cane as he waited. “I only know Abe-san on TV. He worked so hard. His death was so tragic. I felt so sorry for him,” he told AFP.
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 said.
“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 added.
Even though they were out in much lesser numbers, those opponents were walking close to the tents in preparation for a planned protest in front of the parliament.
Abe served as Japan’s prime minister for the longest period of time and is one of the nation’s most recognizable politicians. He is renowned for forging international alliances and his “Abenomics” economic policy.
He retired in 2020 due to ongoing health issues, but he continued to be a significant political figure. On July 8, a lone shooter assassinated him when he was participating in a campaign for his ruling party.
The shooting sparked outrage throughout the world and shocked a nation known for having a low gun crime rate.
But the decision to give him a state funeral only the second for a former premier in the post-war period has provoked opposition, with around 60 percent of Japanese against the event in recent polls.
