Funeral Held for Japan’s Abe as Thousands Pay Tribute

A private funeral was held Tuesday for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose assassination last week shocked a nation and brought renewed attention to his key policies such as bolstering the nation’s defenses.

The funeral in Tokyo was for the family and associates of Abe, who was fatally shot at close range Friday by a gunman who approached from behind as the former premier was making an election campaign speech outside a train station in the western city of Nara. Larger-scale memorial services are to be held at a later date.

Crowds of people lined the streets outside a Buddhist temple in Tokyo where the ceremony took place to pay their respects and view the hearse carrying Abe’s body -- where his wife Akie sat in the front seat.

Abe’s body was driven through the streets of Tokyo on a journey to the Prime Minister’s Office, where current premier Fumio Kishida and scores of officials were waiting to pay their respects. The procession then went past the parliament, where Abe served for more than 25 years.

A day earlier, thousands of politicians, diplomats and business leaders attended a wake for Abe at the temple. Mourners have also flooded places including his ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tokyo and the spot where he was gunned down, offering notes and flowers for the politician who shaped the country’s economy and its diplomatic course during his record-long run in office that ended in 2020.

“I will take up the issues that former Prime Minister Abe was passionate about, but wasn’t able to bring to fruition,” Kishida told a news conference Monday. That would include trying to change Japan’s pacifist constitution to clarify the legality of its military, Kishida said.

Police said the suspected gunman -- a 41-year-old unemployed man from Nara who once served in the Japanese navy -- blamed an unspecified religious group for his family’s financial woes after his mother became an enthusiastic member and made large donations, resulting in her bankruptcy. He targeted Abe in the belief that he had close ties with the group, and denied any political motivation, public broadcaster NHK and other media said, citing police.

The Japanese affiliate of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, has confirmed that the suspect’s mother was a member. The suspect is expected to undergo a mental health evaluation prior to standing trial, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

Leaders from around the world have paid tribute to Abe, who was a defining and sometimes divisive figure for Japan as the country navigated economic stagnation and China’s rise next door during his two terms, from 2006-07 and 2012-20. He was a security hawk, a fiscal dove, a defender of Japan’s alliance with the US and an advocate for maintaining the postwar global order.

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