The family and friends of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended his funeral at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo as the audience paid their respects outside, four days after he was shot dead while giving a speech. campaign.
The bad guys in black suits and gowns gathered at the Zojoji temple for private funeral service, while police officers watched over the spectators, some with bunches of flowers, who had endured the afternoon heat.
Hundreds of people had flocked to the temple the night before to pay their respects to Abe, who was Japan’s oldest prime minister, a conservative who inspired unwavering loyalty among his supporters and hatred among his critics.
The ceremony was closed to the media and limited to family and close friends, with his widow, Akie, as the main mourner.
After the service, a hearse carrying Abe’s body was to make its way through central Tokyo, including the Nagatacho Political Neural Center, the Diet building he first entered in 1993, and the office where he spent a turbulent year as prime minister since 2006 and then nearly eight years after his political return in 2012.
Pains near the Zojoji Temple with photographs of Abe. Photography: Christopher Jue / EPA
Keiko Noumi, a teacher, was among the bad guys who had come to offer prayers and flowers in front of a large photograph of Abe installed inside the temple grounds, which showed him in a white shirt, laughing, with his hands to the hips.
“There was a sense of security when I was at the helm of the country,” he said. “I really supported him, so that’s very unfortunate.”
Yuko Takehisa, a nursing assistant who lives near Tokyo, described Abe’s death as “minor.”
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“More could have been done to prevent it,” he said, complaining that “no one reported” the suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, to police, despite reports that he had fired a handgun before the shooting. attack.
Satoshi Ninoyu, chairman of the National Public Security Commission, said on the day of Abe’s assassination there will be a full review of security measures. “We take this incident very seriously,” the Nikkei newspaper was quoted as saying.
Other villains lined up in front of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters, which Abe led for nearly a decade, to leave offerings at a makeshift shrine while party employees handed out cups of cold tea.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered his condolences on Monday during a brief stop in Tokyo, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Taiwan Vice President William Lai were among the dignitaries. foreigners who attended Abe’s evening. Monday.
The Kyodo news agency said nearly 2,000 messages of condolence had arrived from around the world.
In comments posted on the Elysée’s Twitter account, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “I remember all our meetings and we worked together, especially during my visit. [to Japan] in 2019 … i lost a friend. He served his country with great courage and audacity. “
Public memorials are expected to be held at a later date, possibly with foreign political leaders, but no details have been announced.