LIVE BLOG: State Funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

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With flowers and a gun salute, Japan bids farewell to Abe at state funeral

With flowers, prayers and a 19-gun salute, Japan honoured slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday at the first state funeral for a former premier in 55 years - a ceremony that has become as divisive as he was in life.

The ceremony started at 2:00 p.m, with Abe's ashes carried into the Nippon Budokan Hall in central Tokyo by his widow, Akie, to music from a military band and the booms of the honour-guard salute, which echoed inside the hall.

Abe's killing at a July 8 campaign rally set off a flood of revelations about ties between lawmakers in 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.

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I am traveling to Tokyo tonight to participate in the State Funeral of former PM Shinzo Abe, a dear friend and a great champion of India-Japan friendship.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 26, 2022

With his support ratings dragged to their lowest ever by the controversy, Kishida has apologised and vowed to cut party ties to the church.

But opposition to honouring Abe with a state funeral, the first such event since 1967, has persisted, fed by an $11.5-million price tag to be borne by the state at a time of economic pain for ordinary citizens.

In one part of downtown Tokyo, protesters waved signs and chanted "No state funeral" to the tune of a guitar.

Reuters

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Protesters demonstrate against the state funeral for Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on September 27.

Polls show 60% of Japanese oppose the decision to give Abe a state funeral - only the second for a former premier in the post-war period pic.twitter.com/xpY1VjgMCk

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 27, 2022

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Tokyo tightens security for slain Shinzo Abe's funeral

Roads around the venue will be closed for the event, while airspace will be restricted within 25 nautical miles (46 km, 29 miles) of the site from Monday to Wednesday.

From 10 am Tuesday, the public will be invited to lay flowers at designated stands near the venue. Their baggage will be inspected and they may be required to go through metal detectors, according to a government advisory.

Up to 20,000 police officers, including about 2,500 brought to the capital from across Japan, are being deployed in Tokyo, local media reported. Officers and sniffer dogs have been ramping up anti-terrorism patrols at major rail stations and Tokyo's Haneda Airport in recent days, according to the reports.

#Japan Protests in #Tokyo over Shinzo #Abe funeral, protesters are against holding the funeral due to high costs. In fact, the state has spent more than the #UK spent commemorating the death of Queen Elizabeth II. pic.twitter.com/m9zWDw7TJB

— Donato Yaakov Secchi (@doyaksec) September 27, 2022

Police are patrolling expressways for any suspicious objects and checking around embassies and hotels where foreign guests are staying, the reports said. Police are also looking inside manholes and the moats, with divers, near the venue, the reports said.

Around 700 foreign guests will be flying in for the event, including around 50 current or former leaders.

VIPs are to include U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, prime ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia, Narendra Modi of India and Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and European Council President Charles Michel. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled his planned attendance to focus on responding to a powerful storm.

More than 1,000 Japanese military personnel will be deployed for the ceremony with 4,300 guests expected. An honour guard will fire 19 blank rounds from a cannon to salute Abe and a military band will perform.

The government plans to spend 1.65 billion yen ($11.5 million) on the funeral, including 800 million yen on security and 600 million yen to host foreign delegations. The cost has fuelled a public backlash against the taxpayer-funded funeral at a time of economic hardship for many.

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Japan to hold state funeral for Shinzo Abe; US Vice president Harris to attend

The event takes place amid anger in Japan that taxpayers will be footing the $11.5 million (about R200m) bill to honour a leader and staunch US ally who was popular abroad but often polarising at home.

Compounding the furor, a scandal has engulfed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party since its ties to a religious group came under the spotlight in the weeks since the former conservative leader was fatally shot.