Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during the state funeral for former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on Sept. 27, 2022. (Reuters)Shinzo Abe Funeral Live Updates, Japan State Funeral Live: Japan honoured slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday at the first state funeral for a former premier in 55 years with flowers, prayers and a 19-gun salute. The ceremony was attended by PM Narendra Modi, US Vice President Kamala Harris, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese, among others. The state funeral started at 10.30 am after his widow, Akie Abe, entered the state funeral hall carrying an urn containing her husband’s ashes, placed in a wooden box.
Meanwhile, PM Modi, who arrived in Tokyo earlier on Sept. 27, met with sitting PM Fumio Kishida and said that Abe took Japan-India relations to a greater level. He told Kishida that he is confident that India-Japan relations will deepen further and achieve greater heights under Kishida’s leadership.
Abe was shot from close range by a man with a homemade gun while on the campaign trail in the western city of Nara. He was pronounced dead at the hospital on July 8. (Also read: Who is Tetsuya Yamagami, the man who shot Abe)
A photograph of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a makeshift memorial at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on July 11, 2022.
A 19-gun salute was sounded in honour of slain former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe at his state funeral on Tuesday.
Shinzo Abe's killing at a July 8 campaign rally set off a flood of revelations about ties between lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) he once ran and the Unification Church, which critics call a cult, sparking a backlash against the current premier Fumio Kishida.
With his support ratings dragged to their lowest ever by the controversy, Kishida has apologised and vowed to cut party ties to the church.
But opposition to honouring Abe with a state funeral, the first such event since 1967, has persisted, fed by an $11.5-million price tag to be borne by the state at a time of economic pain for ordinary citizens. (Reuters)
With flowers, prayers and a 19-gun salute, Japan honoured slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday at the first state funeral for a former premier in 55 years.
The ceremony started at 2 pm local time (10.30 am IST), with Abe's ashes carried into the Nippon Budokan Hall in central Tokyo by his widow, Akie, to music from a military band and the booms of the honour-guard salute.
Inside the Budokan, better known as a concert venue, a large portrait of Abe draped with black ribbon hung over a bank of green, white and yellow flowers. Nearby, a wall of photos showed him strolling with G7 leaders, holding hands with children and visiting disaster areas. (Reuters)
Here are some photos from former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's funeral in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on July 8, was one of the most consequential leaders of Japan in it’s post-war history. He was Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister, having served two terms from 2006 to 2007 and then from 2012 to 2020. He announced in August 2020 that he would step down from his post following the resurfacing of a chronic illness. Abe, who was then 65, was due to be in office until September 2021.
During his time in office, Abe was a great friend of India, and a relationship that he invested personally in. He also had a special rapport with PM Modi, which came out on multiple occasions.
Here's a live feed of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's state funeral ceremony.
Here's a glimpse of the decorations at the funeral hall in Budokan, Tokyo.
Shinzo Abe's funeral started as his widow, Akie Abe, entered the state funeral hall carrying an urn containing her husband’s ashes, placed in a wooden box.
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Here's the full MEA statement of PM Modi's meeting with PM Kishida.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan H.E. Mr. Fumio Kishida. Prime Minister conveyed his deepest condolences for the demise of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Prime Minister noted the contributions of late Prime Minister Abe in strengthening India-Japan partnership as well in conceptualising the vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
The two leaders had a productive exchange of views on further deepening bilateral relations. They also discussed a number of regional and global issues. The leaders renewed their commitment towards further strengthening the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, and in working together in the region and in various international groupings and institutions.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, died on July 8 after he was shot in Nara, western Japan, by a 41-year-old man identified as Tetsuya Yamagami.
Few details are available on Yamagami, but he was previously in the Japanese navy, known as the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF). Abe, Japan’s longest-serving PM, remained critical for a few hours after he was shot in his chest during a public event. This is the first time in around a hundred years that a sitting or former premier of Japan has been assassinated, according to a Reuters report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking in Tokyo Tuesday, said that late PM Shinzo Abe took Japan-India relations to a greater level and also expanded it in many areas. He told sitting PM Kishida that he is confident that India-Japan relations will deepen further and achieve greater heights under Kishida's leadership.
Just in: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.
➡️ Japan is implementing maximum-scale security. Up to 20,000 police officers, including about 2,500 brought to the capital from across Japan, are being deployed in Tokyo, local media reported.
➡️ Officers and sniffer dogs have been ramping up anti-terrorism patrols at major rail stations and Tokyo's Haneda Airport in recent days, according to the reports.
➡️ Police are patrolling expressways for any suspicious objects and checking around embassies and hotels where foreign guests are staying, the reports said. Police are also looking inside manholes and the moats, with divers, near the venue, the reports said. (Reuters)
A lavish, taxpayer-funded funeral for Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has triggered a public backlash against the ruling party he led for years.
The rising cost of the funeral, which the government estimates at 1.65 billion yen ($11.5 million), has added fuel to the fire at a time of economic hardship for many. Japan’s last fully state-funded funeral for a prime minister was for Shigeru Yoshida in 1967. Subsequent ones have been paid for by both the state and Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tokyo Tuesday to attend the state funeral of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Modi will join several global leaders to pay tributes to Abe.