The funeral of Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, who was killed in July while making a campaign rally, is holding on Tuesday.
In front of the 4,300 attendees, the late politician’s wife, Akie Abe, carried her husband’s ashes. Among the mourners were Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
The current Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, paid respect to his predecessor by saying: “You were in office for the longest period in our constitutional history, but history will remember you more for your accomplishments than for your duration.”
Hundreds of mourners waited in line for hours to leave flowers and pay their respects to Abe before the ceremony. His state funeral, however, has angered some people at a time of skyrocketing inflation.
In order to protest a funeral that will cost Japanese taxpayers more than €12 million, thousands of protesters came to the streets of the nation’s capital. Opinion polls showed 57% of respondents opposed the state funeral, while 32% support it.
The late leader was despised for his unpopular policies and his affiliation with the South Korean Unification Church, which has come under fire for its aggressive fund-raising methods that involve pressing its adherents for sizable donations.
Because of the controversy surrounding Shinzo Abe’s official burial, a man in Tokyo burned himself on fire last week in an act of protest.