A state funeral commemorating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held in Tokyo on Tuesday, with some attendees. 4.300 participants, but before a country was divided over the controversial event financed with public money.
The funeral began in the pavilion after 17:00 local time (5:00 GMT). Nippon Budokan After the samovar with the ashes of Abe, the capital of Japan, was transported there, videos were shot and flower offerings were made in a ceremony in which several political figures intervened in memory of the president.
Executive spokesperson, Hirokazu MatsunoAfter the ceremony, which officially started in the pavilion, which was decorated with a giant portrait of Abe and flower arrangements symbolizing the mountains of Japan, the National Anthem was played and a minute’s silence was observed.
“Abe, you’re someone who should have lived much, much longer.” The Japanese Prime Minister said fumio kishida, during his address. Recalling the murder of the former president after he was shot at a rally on July 8, he added, “You would have worked another 10… no, 20 years as a compass for Japan and the rest of the world.”
Nearly 700 foreign dignitaries, including Abe’s widow, the visibly acted Akie, and US Vice President Kamala Harris, were among the attendees; Charles Michel, President of the European Council; Cuban prime minister Manuel Marrero; or the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
Colombia’s First Lady also went to the Japanese capital, veronica alcoholPresident of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), foreign ministers of Mexico, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador, Thomas Bach or the president of the Spanish SenateAnder Gil.
a divided japan
This Tuesday morning thousands of people came Queuing in Tokyo’s Kudanzaka Park to offer flowers in memory of the former prime minister and bid farewell to democratic Japan’s longest-serving leader for his rule between 2012 and 2020 for a few hours.
One of the first to bloom Yoshihiro HayasakaA 53-year-old Tokyo native who, after making his offer to Efe, stood in line for two hours to “pay my respect and condolences as a citizen to a prime minister who worked for the country and died under these circumstances”.
Less than three kilometers from that point, a thousand more people showed To call for an “immediate” stop of the funeral in Hibiya Park and to criticize Abe’s militaristic profile and political legacy.
“I’m against anyone’s state funeral because violation of democracyRetired Said Shimasaki Kobae, who attended the show, added that Abe was responsible for “destroying democracy” in the Asian country.
Demonstrations against the celebration of the state funeral for Abe are intensifying as the date approaches, and according to a recent poll by state network NHK, More than half of the Japanese were against to his celebration.
Abe’s funeral was the second such funeral in post-war Japan since the funeral dedicated to Abe in 1967. Shigeru Yoshida and it cost at least 1,649 million yen (about 11.8 million euros), according to figures from the Japanese government.
condolence diplomacy
Kishida took advantage of the meeting to accomplish what local media described. “condolence diplomacy” He held bilateral meetings with Harris, Modi, Michel and others to strengthen relations with their countries and regions.
Both the British Foreign Secretary, wise jamesLike Modi, they took advantage of their visit to Tokyo to praise the figure of Abe and his important diplomatic legacy with the current prime minister, which they hope to continue with a less international profile.
Abe died on July 8, aged 67, after shooting himself while speaking at an election rally in front of a train station in the western city of Nara. His family held a private funeral at Tokyo’s Zojoji Buddhist temple that month. gathered thousands of people and members of his party, the opposition and diplomats.