With prayers, flowers, and black ribbons, Japan bid farewell to late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday, 12 July. The funeral, which was open to family, close friends, and select lawmakers, was held at the centuries-old Zojoji temple in Tokyo.
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The vehicle carrying the body of late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe leaves Zojoji temple after his funeral in Tokyo.
(Photo: AP/PTI)
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(Photo: AP/PTI)
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Shinzo Abe, front right, is held by his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, front center, when Kishi was sworn in as new prime minister at an unknown place in Japan in February 1957. Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe was credited with instilling political and economic stability. However, he angered Japan's neighbors South Korea and China along with many Japanese with his nationalistic rhetoric and calls to revise the country's pacifist constitution.
(Photo: PTI)
Crowds packed the streets amid heavy police presence as the hearse carrying Abe departed from there, reported news agency Reuters.
Several helicopters hovered over the temple during the ceremony, visuals from the scene showed.
Following the funeral, the hearse carrying Abe’s body was taken through the centre of Tokyo, passing landmarks such as the parliament building that Abe first entered as a young legislator in 1993 and the office from which he led the nation. Abe was the longest-serving prime minister of Japan.
As per a CNN report, the hearse was received by members of the Japanese government including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Abe’s brother and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi. They were seen bowing before the hearse as it arrived, along with a motorcade of black cars.
Abe's widow, Akie Abe, greeted the mourners from the front seat of a black car. She was carrying an ancestral tablet that symbolises transition to the afterlife.
South Korea President, Yoon Suk-Yeol, meanwhile, mourned Abe's death at a memorial altar which was organised for the former Japan PM at Seoul, South Korea.
Abe's remains will be cremated at Tokyo's Kirigaya Funeral Hall on Tuesday.
'Man of Vision': Blinken, Macron Before His Funeral
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Abe on Monday, 11 July, as a “man of vision,” as the country’s ruling party held muted celebrations following a win in the elections.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in comments posted on the Élysée’s Twitter account on the same day, said that he remembered all their meetings and work together especially during his 2019 Japan visit. "I’ve lost a friend. He served his country with great courage, and audacity,” he wrote.
China Reacts to Taiwan's Vice President Attending Funeral
Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry reacted sternly to Taiwan's Vice President William Lai attending the funeral. Reacting to Taiwan's Vice President attending Shinzo Abe's funeral, China's foreign ministry said that the Chinese embassy in Japan has filed stern representations.
"The Taiwan authorities are making use of Shinzo Abe's death to engage in political manipulation which will never succeed. China has lodged solemn representations with the Japanese side in Beijing and Tokyo," China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, according to Reuters.
Abe's Assassination
Former Japanese PM Abe was shot in the city of Nara on Friday, 8 July, while delivering a speech.
After the shooting, the 67-year-old leader was not breathing, and his heart stopped while being airlifted to the hospital to treat the gunshot wound. His death was announced hours later.
A 41-year-old man, identified as Yamagami Tetsuya, was arrested for the murder. The police said that the weapon used to shoot Abe was "homemade."
Japan has some of the most stringent gun-control laws, and deaths from firearms in the country are in single figures annually.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lamented Abe's death on Friday, saying that he was "shocked and saddened beyond words."
(With inputs from Reuters and CNN.)
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