Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a condolence speech at the Sept. 27 state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Pool The government went ahead with the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sept. 27, even though public opinion was largely opposed to the holding of the event.
A car carrying Abe's remains left his Tokyo home around 1: 30 p.m. passed by the Defense Ministry in the Ichigaya district and arrived at Nippon Budokan hall in Chiyoda Ward.
An honor guard from the Self-Defense Forces was in the hall when Abe arrived and a 19-gun salute was delivered.
The honor guard led a procession which included Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Abe's widow Akie, carrying the slain politician's remains into Nippon Budokan.
Crown Prince Fumihito and other imperial family members were among the 4,300 or so who attended the state funeral.
After the playing of Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem, a moment of silence was observed. An eight-minute video of Abe's life was shown to the Nippon Budokan audience.
Kishida said in his condolence speech: I joined your cabinet as a foreign minister and an ally living in the same age. One thing I am proud of is putting my full effort into paving a course for Japanese diplomacy. Yoshihide Suga, who served as chief cabinet secretary under Abe before becoming prime minister, said in a condolence speech: "I am certain that you were someone who one day had to become prime minister and who should become prime minister." I am proud to have held that belief unchanged throughout my life. Suga said that his greatest achievement was persuading Abe to make a second run for the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party when it was still in the opposition.
Kishida decided to hold a state funeral for Abe six days after he was murdered while giving a campaign speech.
A number of public opinion polls found that a majority of respondents opposed the holding of the state funeral, because of the revelations about the ties between Abe and the Unification Church, now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.