People leave flowers and pay tributes to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe outside the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on September 27, 2022, ahead of his state funeral later in the day. NICOLAS DATICHE TOKYO - Japan will honour former prime minister Shinzo Abe, a polarizing figure who dominated modern-day politics as its longest-serving leader, with a rare state funeral that has become nearly as divisive as he was.
Abe's killing at a July 8 campaign rally caused a flood of revelations about ties between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party LDP he once ran and the Unification Church, which critics call a cult, sparking a backlash against current premier Fumio Kishida.
With his support ratings dragged to their lowest ever since by the controversy, Kishida has apologized and vowed to cut party ties to the church.
The US $11.5 million price tag has caused opposition to honoring Abe with a state funeral, the first such event since 1967, to be borne by the state at a time of economic pain for ordinary citizens.
Hidemi Noto, a 38-year-old assistant movie director who had stopped by the site at the Nippon Budokan Hall on Monday to watch the preparations, said I don't think this funeral should be held.
It has a completely different meaning to a funeral for ordinary people. Hundreds of ordinary citizens lined the streets outside the venue early on Tuesday morning, waiting to offer flowers at designated stands.
Around 4,300 people are expected to attend Tuesday's ceremony and at least 48 current or former government figures, including US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On September 27, 2022, police officers patrol outside Nippon Budokan before the state funeral of the former prime minister of Japan Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. EUGENE HOSHIKO AP The only group of seven leaders set to join, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, canceled in order to deal with a natural disaster at home.
The ceremony begins at 2: 00 pm 0500 GMT with Abe's ashes carried into the venue, and an honor guard will fire 19 rounds from a cannon.
Tens of thousands of police officers will be deployed, nearby roads will be closed and even some schools shut as Japan attempts to avoid the security blunders that led to Abe's shooting with a homemade gun by a suspect who, according to police, accused the Unification Church of impoverishing his family.
The state funeral for Abe, who received a private funeral days after his murder, is the first since the death of former prime minister Shigeru Yoshida in 1967.
Kishida explained the decision as a way of honoring Abe's achievements, as well as standing up for democracy, but ordinary Japanese remain divided, with opinion polls showing more than half opposed.
A senior official in the administration of the US President Joe Biden, who accompanied Harris to Japan, told reporters he could not comment on Japanese opinions about the funeral.
He was a great partner of the United States and the vice president is going to honor that legacy, he said on Monday.