Shinzo Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was a contentious character who dominated current politics, and on September 27 Japan staged a rare public funeral that has become almost as divisive as the assassinated former leader.
Criticism has been leveled at the state burial held in honor of Abe, the first such service since 1967. The $11.5 million that the state must bear during a challenging economic time for average people has caused the uproar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Japan’s current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, where he attended Shinzo Abe’s state funeral, he spoke about strengthening the Indo-Pacific region, a concept first articulated by Abe.
Shinzo Abe’s vision is recalled by Modi during his meeting with Japanese PM Kishida
“When I visited Tokyo earlier this year, I never dreamed that I’d be returning for the sorrowful ceremony of former Prime Minister Abe’s official funeral. He was a fantastic leader, a remarkable person, and a supporter of goodwill between India and Japan. He shall live on in the hearts of millions, Mr. Modi tweeted of Mr. Abe, who he had last seen in May when he traveled to attend a Quad summit and who he had known for a number of years.
At the burial, which was held at the Nippon Budokan arena and was attended by nearly 4,300 people, including numerous leaders of state and government, Mr. Kishida and his predecessor Yoshihide Suga paid moving tributes to their former leader who was slain in July. Due to recent demonstrations over the Kishida government’s plan to give the former Prime Minister a state funeral, more than 20,000 police officers were deployed as part of the ceremony’s security arrangements.
