Japan bids farewell to Shinzo Abe, its longest-serving PM

Tokyo, July 12: Japanese on Tuesday bid farewell to one of its popular political personalities Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday at a campaign rally.

People sporting black lined up outside central Tokyo's Zojoji temple, the site of Abe's funeral, from early morning to pay their respects. However, the funeral ceremony is restricted to family and close friends.

Abe, 67, was shot from behind in Nara in western Japan while giving a campaign speech. He was airlifted to a hospital but was not breathing and his heart had stopped. He was pronounced dead later at the hospital.

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After the completion of the funeral, the hearse bearing Abe's body will proceed through downtown Tokyo, where black mourning ribbons draped Japanese flags, according to a report on Reuters. The procession will take in capital's political heart of Nagatacho, including landmarks such as the parliament building Abe.

Abe was shot dead at close range while giving a speech in broad daylight triggering anger and shock not just in Japan but around the world as the country has one of the world's lowest rates of gun crime.

International leaders have expressed their sympathies with the family of Abe and have sent tributes expressing outrage and sadness over the killing. As the investigation into the assassination continues, local media reports revealed that the man who was detained after Abe was shot served in the Japanese Navy for three years.

A gun that appeared to be handmade was retrieved from the site where Abe was campaigning for a candidate ahead of Sunday's elections for Japan's upper house of Parliament.

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Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, stepped down in 2020 citing health reasons. He was prime minister of Japan twice, from 2006-07 and again from 2012-20. He was succeeded by Yoshihide Suga and later by Fumio Kishida.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has decided to award former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with the country's highest order posthumously. Abe will receive the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, Japan's Kyodo News reported. The longest-serving PM of Japan will be the fourth former prime minister to receive the decoration under the postwar Constitution.