TOKYO – A private funeral for family and friends of slain former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe will be held Tuesday at the Zojo-ji Temple in Tokyo, where dignitaries paid their respects a day earlier in a traditional tsuya ceremony to send off the dead.
The funeral will be held at 1 p.m., followed by a procession to carry Abe’s body to the political establishments where his legacy looms large: the Kantei, or the Prime Minister’s Office; the Diet, or the national legislature; and the headquarters of his ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and top LDP executives are expected to attend Tuesday’s service.
Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Sept. 16, 2020. Eugene Hoshiko, File/Associated Press
Tokyo residents lined up Tuesday to pay respects and leave flowers at the LDP office and at the Zojo-ji Temple. Abe, the youngest prime minister to be elected, was the longest to serve in the role and remained a power broker in domestic politics even after stepping down in 2020.
The Japanese government has honored Abe with its highest decoration, the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, making him the fourth prime minister of postwar Japan to receive the honor. The national flag was flown half-mast until Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo.
The loss of Japan’s most prominent politician, who at age 67 was gunned down in Nara while campaigning for a fellow LDP politician ahead of upper house elections, horrified a nation unaccustomed to gun violence.
Plans for a state funeral have not yet been made public. But dignitaries from around the world are already making plans to attend and pay homage to the leader who sought to raise Japan’s global influence during his nearly nine-year second term as prime minister.
Tributes have been flowing in from around the world, and U.S. leaders have emphasized Abe’s contribution to the U.S.-Japan alliance. On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel attended the tsuya along with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who was in town to discuss economic sanctions on Russia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a refueling stop between travels to meet with Kishida and pay respects.
During his tenure from 2012 to 2020, Abe forged deeper relationships with European countries and emphasized a strong alliance with the United States, even as then-President Donald Trump tested long-standing relationships with allies. The pair forged a close personal bond and often played golf together.
Trump told Breitbart News in an interview over the weekend that he was eager to attend Abe’s funeral, presumably a reference to a potential state funeral. Trump said he was contacting Abe’s family to try to make arrangements.
The man accused of assassinating Abe, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami of Nara, told investigators he believed that the former prime minister was linked to a religious group he blamed for his mother’s financial difficulties. Yamagami is suspected to have used a homemade gun to target Abe.
The Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has come under focus in the shooting’s aftermath. On Monday, the head of the Unification Church in Japan said Yamagami’s mother was a member, but police have not yet identified the religious organization.
On Tuesday, Japanese media reported that bullet holes were found on the facade of the Unification Church building in Nara. The suspect told investigators that he had tested his gun there before shooting Abe, Japanese television station Fuji News Network reported.
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