Japan held a state funeral ceremony for the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday (27) at 14:00 local time (13:00 Hong Kong time), with 1,390 members of the self-defense forces, including the guard. honor, and about 4,300 dignitaries at home and abroad. While waiting to attend, police mobilized 20,000 people to maintain security and hundreds of people gathered near the venue to oppose a state funeral. When the vehicle carrying Abe’s ashes arrived at the Nippon Budokan, where the state funeral was held, the self-defense forces fired 19 cannons to pay homage. Abe’s ashes were transported from his home at around 1:20 pm, and 20 honor guards from the Self-Defense Forces lined up to escort him to the scene. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a condolence speech during the ceremony.
According to the organization of the state funeral, the vehicle carrying Abe’s ashes left his residence in Tominoya, Tokyo, and 20 honor guards greeted him at the door. After arriving at the Budokan at 2:00 pm, Abe’s wife Akie, holding the ashes and accompanied by Kishida, entered the venue. The honor guard fired a “suspended cannon”. Chief cabinet secretary Hiroichi Matsuno, who served as vice president of the funeral, opened the ceremony first. Subsequently, the Japanese national anthem was played, followed by a minute of silence and a clip of Abe’s death, including Abe’s 10th anniversary of the 311 Fukushima earthquake. of his political achievements during his tenure and meeting with dignitaries from various countries.
Kishida, Speaker of the House of Representatives Hiroyuki Hosoda, President of the Senate Hidehisa Otsuji, Chief of the Supreme Court Saburo Tokura, and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who was a friend, gave speeches one after the other. In his speech, Kishida praised Abe’s contributions during his tenure and praised him as a brave person, and people in Japan and around the world will miss Abe and his time in power; Yoshihide Suga choked when he gave the speech, and Akie shed tears too. As for the royal family, the Japanese emperor Naruhito and his wife, and the superior emperor Akihito and his wife will send envoys to greet, and a total of seven members of the Qiu Xiao palace, including the pro-emperor Wenren and his wife, will attend the ceremony
The opening of Kudanzaka Park near the Budokan was originally scheduled for 10:00, but due to the large number of people arriving early, the opening time has been moved to 9:30. flowers can still be prepared before 4pm. Of the 67 local governments across the country, 65 local governments, with the exception of Okinawa Prefecture and Kawasaki City, have waved their flags at half mast or hung flags to pay homage, 61 local government governors or mayors have attended the state funeral, while Okinawa, Shizuoka, Miyazaki, Nagano Representatives from the prefecture, the city of Sagamihara and the city of Shizuoka will not attend for reasons such as disaster relief.
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