Shinzo Abe is being laid to rest today in a private burial in the nation’s capital Tokyo.
He was Japan’s longest-serving, most well-known, and possibly most significant leader in modern times.
Early on Tuesday, friends and relatives gathered inside the city’s Zojoji temple, a historic and cultural site that contains the remains of generals from the Edo era.
The former prime minister’s widow, Akie Abe, 60, then made her appearance while seated in the front seat of a hearse transporting her husband’s coffin past throngs of grieving people lining the streets outside the temple.
The majority held up their phones to record the occasion, but a few showed respect for the great man by bowing their heads, clasping their hands together in prayer, or even crying.
Akie held a “ihai” or “spirit tablet” in front of her face, which is a piece of wood inscribed with the deceased’s name, date of birth, and death as well as, in the case of well-known public personalities, frequently a posthumous moniker that represents their social standing and lifetime accomplishments.
Abe’s body was transported from the temple across the city to the Kirigaya Funeral Hall, where it was cremated in accordance with Buddhist custom.
It passed via the legislature, the prime minister’s office, and the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on route so that his former colleagues may pay respects.
Although there have not yet been any plans for a public funeral, it is anticipated that Abe will receive some sort of formal ceremony in honor of his career of public service.
His funeral occurs the day following a ‘tsuya’ ritual, which is similar to a Western wake and involves family members coming together to pray for the deceased.
Tsuya, which means literally “passing the night,” refers to the practice of some family members who want to show their respects by keeping a nightlong vigil over the body.
It is unknown if Akie, a former socialite and DJ who was 35 years married to Mr. Abe before he was fatally shot last week, attended the vigil.
Shinzo Abe, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and then again from 2012 to 2020, was shot and died last week while running for office in the southern city of Nara.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, admitted killing the politician and claimed that he did so because he thought Abe belonged to the South Korean Unification Church, also known as the “Moonies.”
Yamagami claims that by giving to the church, which some people refer to as a cult, his mother has financially destroyed the family.
She is a member, according to the church, but no information about the funds she contributed has been disclosed.
On Tuesday, those gathered outside the Zojoji shrine called the shooting “despicable.”
It has profoundly upset a nation where gun violence, in particular, is practically unheard of.
Tsukasa Yokawa, a consultant who is 41 years old, told AFP: “I came here to drop flowers and offer a prayer because I can’t get over my loss.” She called Abe “a brilliant prime minister who achieved a lot to enhance Japan’s standing” on the international scene.
Yuko Takehisa, a 51-year-old assistant nurse who resides in Kanagawa, close to Tokyo, lamented that ‘no one reported’ Yamagami to police despite claims that he had practiced with a homemade gun before the attack.
Satoshi Ninoyu, the head of the National Public Safety Commission, a cabinet position in charge of the national police, promised to conduct a thorough investigation into any security lapses on Tuesday.
The high-profile politician was approached from behind and shot in broad daylight, and the local police have previously acknowledged that their security plan for him had shortcomings.
According to unnamed investigating sources quoted in Japanese media on Tuesday, police searches of the suspect’s residence turned up pellets and other potential building materials for a gun similar to the rudimentary one used in the attack.
Yamagami served three years in the Japanese navy and is said to have admitted to financial difficulties in the family as a result of his mother’s significant donations to a religious organization.
Yamagami’s mother was a member of the Unification Church, a worldwide religious movement established in Korea in the 1950s, the organization said on Monday.
However, it made no mention of any donations that she might have made.
Abe’s assassination caused shock, fury, and a flood of condolence messages in Japan and around the world.
More than 1,700 condolence messages had been received, according to Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, from 259 nations, territories, and international organizations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a previously unplanned visit to Tokyo on Monday to honour Abe and praised him as a “man of vision.”
Additionally, according to Taiwanese media, Vice President William Lai of Taiwan made a surprise visit to Tokyo.
Although Hayashi stated that Lai was travelling in a private role and that Japan’s stance of working non-governmental relations with Taiwan has not changed, the visit had the potential to infuriate Beijing.
Following the burial on Tuesday, Abe’s coffin will be driven by some of Tokyo’s political icons, including the Diet and the Kantei, the residence of the prime minister.
Public memorials are anticipated to take place at a later time; major foreign political figures may attend, but no specifics have yet been made public.
Abe, a member of a political dynasty, became the nation’s youngest prime minister since World War II in 2006, when he assumed office for the first time at the age of 52.
At the conclusion of his second term in 2020, he resigned due to health issues.
His hawkish, nationalist ideas, especially his desire to amend the pacifist constitution, caused division, and he had to deal with a number of problems, including claims of favouritism.
Others, however, praised him for his “Abenomics” economic policy and efforts to elevate Japan to a major global player, especially by forging close ties with former US President Donald Trump.
Ironically, Abe’s passing might be the catalyst for some of his long-held goals to come true.
His Liberal Democratic Party secured a parliamentary super-majority just two days after he was slain, giving them the authority to advance the constitutional revisions he had long argued were essential.
Abe’s goal was to change the pacifist constitution that the US imposed on Japan at the close of World War II, allowing Japan to develop and sustain regular military forces that would increase its influence as a major participant on the international scene.
Despite acknowledging that it will be difficult to find direction without a man who remained a towering role in Japanese politics even after he stepped down as PM, current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has committed to advance Abe’s vision.
We might undoubtedly be impacted in various ways as a result of the loss of a great leader, Kishida remarked. ‘As we face challenging issues, our party must unite.’
According to experts, Abe, a kingmaker and chairman of the party’s largest wing, has no clear successor and his departure might lead to a power struggle among his allies.
Koichi Nakano, a professor of international politics at Tokyo’s Sophia University, asserted that Mr. Kishida may have more freedom to act on his own initiative in the absence of Mr. Abe and his hold on the party’s leadership.
Due to his perceived efforts to listen to the public, Kishida has received relatively high approval ratings.
According to Nakano, this indicated that support might be shifting from Abe’s more conservative stance to his more moderate position.
But he warned that any big shift in course would be challenging for Kishida and take some time.
Abe established many of Japan’s present foreign and security policies, including the expansion of the Japan-U.S. alliance and efforts to challenge China’s growth by promoting a free and open Asia-Pacific, he claimed.
The COVID-19 pandemic reaction, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and price increases, according to Kishida, would be his top three objectives.
He also promised to work to change the constitution, which currently only permits the military of Japan to act in self-defense, and to strengthen the nation’s security.
Abe and other of Japan’s ultraconservatives have long aspired to give the nation’s military, known as the Self Defense Force, a bigger international role.
They saw the document the United States wrote following World War II as a disgrace.
However, many people in the public support the document more and believe that it is more urgent to handle the epidemic and the skyrocketing cost of food, fuel, and childcare.
Kishida declared, “We will carry out his last wishes and address the problems he had to leave unresolved.”