(Tokyo) A man apparently set himself on fire Wednesday morning in Tokyo near the office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and was later hospitalized in an unconscious state, according to several local media.
Posted at 8:42 p.m.
According to these sources, the man was protesting against the national funeral planned for September 27 in Tokyo of the slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a large-scale tribute which divides Japan.
Asked by AFP, the police and the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment immediately.
According to TV Asahi, the man set himself on fire after telling police he opposed the planned state funeral for Shinzo Abe. According to the Kyodo news agency, a message of protest against this tribute was found next to him.
A political figure as emblematic as it is controversial in Japan, the ultranationalist Shinzo Abe left power in 2020 for health reasons. He was shot dead on July 8 in the middle of an election rally in Nara (western Japan).
His alleged assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, immediately arrested after the fact, explained that he had a personal grudge against the Unification Church, nicknamed the “Moon sect”, with which Mr. Abe had a relationship. ‘after him links.
Mr. Kishida meanwhile flew to New York on Tuesday to attend the United Nations General Assembly.