Many heads of state and heads of government are gathered in Tokyo on Tuesday for the national funeral of Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese Prime Minister assassinated last July during a political rally. But the atmosphere is not really one of great national communion.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 2 min.
Until the start of the ceremony, this Tuesday, September 27, opponents of the national funeral did not disarm. If thousands of Japanese wanted to pay their last respects to their assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, this national funeral ceremony in Tokyo is however very controversial in the country.
>> In Japan, the national funeral of Shinzo Abe has trouble passing
Alongside the Japanese who lined up to lay wreaths and briefly meditate in front of a portrait of Abe installed in a tent near the Nippon Budokan, many heads of state from the Asia-Pacific region made the trip to this high place of martial arts competitions, concerts and official ceremonies in the heart of the Japanese capital. Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister is there, as is Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister. There are also leaders from Vietnam, South Korea and even Singapore. Kamala Harris, the American vice president, were expected. These are the representatives of the countries that had a lot of relations with Shinzo Abe. He had been in power for almost nine years until 2020. And he had been very active on the diplomatic level to boost the aura of Japan.
However, 60% of Japanese respondents say they do not support today’s ceremony. In question: the image of Shinzo Abe inside the country was much more contrasted. A large part of public opinion denounced the very conservative nature of his policies. And the annoyance of the population also targets the current government of Fumio Kishida, who comes from the same right-wing party as Shinzo Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party. People reproach him for having decided almost alone, without any debate, to organize this great national funeral. They also make fun of the cost of the event. Tokyo speaks of more than 11 million euros in expenses for a few minutes of ceremony.
And this dissatisfaction could last beyond the funeral, because the population does not digest either the revelations which followed the investigation into the assassination of Abe.
During interrogations, the alleged assassin explained that he wanted revenge against the Unification Church, which is also known as the Moon sect because his mother had ruined his family in donations to the sect. And he explained that the sect was able to thrive in Japan thanks to its ties to Shinzo Abe’s party. And investigations have shown that to be true.
That is to say that the Japanese power has shown a lot of tolerance towards the sect which defends the same conservative values. In exchange for this tolerance, she gave a helping hand to elected members of the ruling party during election campaigns. It was the faithful who came to put up posters, to slap in meetings or who voted en masse in favor of a candidate judged to be in line with the sect. The PLD has just recognized that half of its current parliamentarians had more or less strong links with the sect. And that the population will take time to digest.