- Title: Japan to spend $1.8 mln on slain ex-PM Abe's state funeral
- Date: 26th August 2022
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - JULY 12, 2022) (REUTERS) FLORAL OFFERING STAND FOR MOURNERS ON THE DAY OF FORMER PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE'S FUNERAL PORTRAIT OF ABE AND FLOWERS ON STAND PEOPLE IN QUEUE PEOPLE BOWING, OFFERING FLOWERS TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - JULY 12, 2022) (REUTERS) ABE'S HEARSE DRIVING AWAY FROM ZOJOJI TEMPLE/CROWD SHOUTING, CLAPPING, AND TAKING PHOTOS / POLICE DIRECTING TRAFFIC VARIOUS OF CROWD IN FRONT OF ZOJOJI TEMPLE
- Embargoed: 9th September 2022 04:54
- Keywords: Former Japanse Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Japanese government cost funeral state funeral
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002076526082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Japan will spend 250 million yen ( $1.83 million) on a state funeral for slain former leader Shinzo Abe, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday (August 26), despite growing opposition from a public angered by revelations of the ruling party's ties to the Unification Church.
Abe, Japan's longest-serving but divisive premier, was shot and killed at an election rally on July 8, and although funeral services were held soon after, Japan has decided to hold a state funeral at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan arena on Sept. 27.
The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, an Abe protege, decided the state funeral would be paid for solely with state funds.
But opinion polls show persistent opposition to the idea. In the latest, published on Sunday (August 21), 53% of respondents were against a state funeral. The public has been angered by revelations of ties between the ruling party and the Unification Church, which a vast majority of respondents in opinion polls feel have not been fully explained.
Abe's suspected assassin, arrested at the scene moments after the shooting, bore a grudge against the church, alleging it bankrupted his mother, and he blamed Abe for promoting it, according to his social media posts and news reports.
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