TOKYO — Even as world leaders gathered in Tokyo for the funeral of assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday, there were protests against the lavish proceedings.
But the state funeral for Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, who was shot and killed while campaigning in Nara on July 8, takes place in a country deeply divided over the former leader’s legacy.
In that sense, I would like to once again offer my sincere condolences to former Prime Minister Abe, who was killed by a bullet,” its leader Kenta Izumi said Tuesday.
The decision on whether to hold a state funeral is usually subject to parliamentary deliberation, which was not the case for Abe's service.
Around 800 people protested the state funeral at a major train station on Monday evening, according to broadcaster NTV.