The Japanese government announced on Friday that it will spend 1.83 million dollars on a state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who passed away earlier this week. The announcement comes despite growing opposition from the Japanese public, which is angered by revelations regarding the ruling party’s ties to the Unification Church.
Even though funeral services had already been held shortly after Abe’s death, Japan has decided to hold a state funeral for him on September 27 at the Nippon Budokan area in Tokyo. Abe was Japan’s longest-serving but also most divisive prime minister. He was shot and killed at an election rally on July 8.
The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was Abe’s protégé, came to the conclusion that the state burial could be paid for entirely using monies provided by the state.
Opinion surveys, on the other hand, consistently show resistance to the idea. The most recent poll, which was published on Sunday, found that 53 percent of respondents were against holding a state funeral.
Revelations of ties between the ruling social gathering and the Unification Church have infuriated the general public. An overwhelming majority of respondents in opinion polls feel that these ties have not been completely defined. These revelations have become a significant headache for Kishida, dragging down his support.
The church, which began in South Korea in the 1950s and is well-known for its mass marriages, has been challenged throughout the years with problems over the manner in which it solicits financial contributions.
According to his social media posts and the reports that were written about him, the man who is suspected of killing Abe was angry at the church because, in his words, it caused his mother to go bankrupt, and he blamed Abe for selling the church. He was arrested at the scene of the crime just moments after the shooting.
According to reports in the media, the individual is now undergoing psychological evaluation.
“Abe was highly valued both inside Japan and globally, and there have been many words of sympathy since his death,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told an information convention yesterday. “Abe was highly esteemed both within Japan and internationally.”
According to his statement, “We feel it is vital for Japan as a country to react to that as international etiquette. As a result, we determined that it is preferable to organise this funeral as an official function sponsored by the government, and we will have foreign guests come.”
In 1967, when Shigeru Yoshida passed away, he was the last high-ranking minister to have a burial that was completely paid for by the Japanese government. The subsequent ones have been paid for both by the state and the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which Abe was a prominent member of throughout his time in office.
It is expected that many current and past heads of state from across the globe will be there, with information evaluations indicating that arrangements have been made for a participation from a previous President of the United States, Barack Obama.
According to statements made by the Kremlin in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be there.