Europe 1 with AFP 08:18, September 27, 2022

Japan is preparing to say goodbye to its former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

His assassination by bullets in the middle of an electoral meeting on July 8 at the age of 67 shocked the country and the whole world.

In front of several thousand Japanese, his wife Akie Abe arrived with the urn containing her husband's ashes this morning.

The controversial state funeral for slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began in Tokyo on Tuesday with the arrival of his widow, carrying the urn containing her husband's ashes.

Dressed in a black kimono and greeted by incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida around 2 p.m. local time (0500 GMT), Akie Abe brought the urn to the Nippon Budokan, the funeral site, in front of several thousand distinguished Japanese guests and strangers.

From Tuesday morning, thousands of ordinary Japanese flocked to the Budokan, a mecca for martial arts competitions, concerts and official ceremonies in the heart of the capital, to lay wreaths and briefly reflect in front of a portrait of 'Abe installed in a tent erected for the occasion.

"I wanted to thank him. He did so much for Japan" and "the way he died was so shocking," Koji Takamori, a 46-year-old entrepreneur from the island of Hokkaido, told AFP. north) with her 9-year-old son.

No sacred union

"But to be honest, I also came because there was so much opposition" to this state funeral, he added.

This event is indeed far from being a moment of sacred union, having aroused intense controversies and demonstrations.

Abe broke the longevity record for a serving Prime Minister in Japan: more than eight and a half years in 2006-2007 and 2012-2020.

He was Japan's best-known political figure both at home and abroad, with his intense diplomatic activity and massive fiscal and monetary stimulus dubbed "Abenomics".

His assassination by bullets in the middle of an electoral meeting on July 8 at the age of 67 shocked Japan and the whole world.

But Abe was also hated by many for his ultra-liberal and nationalist views, his desire to revise the pacifist Japanese Constitution and his links to numerous political and financial scandals.

The motive of his alleged killer - Abe's supposed links with the Unification Church, nicknamed "Moon sect", accused of exerting heavy financial pressure on its members - has further tarnished the image of Abe. the former Prime Minister in the eyes of his detractors.

Since his death, revelations have continued to rain down on the extent of the links between this Church and Japanese parliamentarians, especially from the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, right in power), formerly led by Abe and today by the current Prime Minister, whose popularity rating has melted since this summer.

60% of Japanese are against

Fumio Kishida's swift and unilateral decision to hold a state funeral has outraged the opposition who believe it should have been debated and approved in parliament.

Several opposition parties boycotted the ceremony.

Tributes of this type for politicians have been extremely rare in Japan since the post-war period, the only precedent dating back to 1967. The estimated cost of the ceremony - the equivalent of 12 million euros - also irritated.

After the failures of Abe's close protection, the government did not skimp on security: 20,000 police were deployed for the occasion according to local media.

Peaceful demonstrations against the event have sometimes brought together several thousand people in recent weeks and a new rally took place on Tuesday in front of Parliament.

A man also attempted to set himself on fire near the prime minister's office last week to protest the national tribute, according to local media.

According to the latest polls, about 60% of Japanese are opposed to this state funeral.

Discreet presence of China

Some 4,300 people including 700 foreign dignitaries were present at this non-denominational one and a half hour ceremony.

After the national anthem and a minute's silence, several eulogies are to be delivered, including by Mr. Kishida and Yoshihide Suga, Abe's former right-hand man who succeeded him as Prime Minister (2020-2021).

Japan's Emperor Naruhito and his wife Masako were not present, due to their status as politically neutral national symbols, but other members of the Imperial Household attended.

Foreign guests include US Vice President Kamala Harris, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and European Council President Charles Michel.

France was represented by its former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

China, with which Japan has fresh relations, sent a representative but no executive member.