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Shinzo Abe death: Why Japan remains divided over state-funded funeral for former Prime Minister

Many people from Japan have expressed their anger over the lavish state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

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Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated earlier this year, and his state-funded funeral is set to take place tomorrow, September 27. Though he was the longest-serving leader in the Japanese government, many people in the country have been left angered by the state funeral.

According to local media reports, the Japanese government is spending a whopping 12 million dollars for the funeral of Shinzo Abe, which is being sponsored by taxpayers’ money. There will also be a reception fee and massive security for hosting the world leaders attending his funeral.

The lavish funeral for Shinzo Abe has sparked a public backlash against the government of the country, with several people and opposition leaders choosing to boycott the high-security affair, which is set to take place tomorrow.

Some opposition lawmakers are boycotting Tuesday's state funeral and a man set himself alight in an apparent protest against the $12 million event, to be attended by foreign dignitaries including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The opposition has largely been fuelled by revelations of links Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had to the Unification Church, which became widely known after he was gunned down on the campaign trail in July.

The suspect in the shooting accused Abe of promoting the group, which critics call a cult due to its mass weddings and aggressive fund-raising tactics. The suspect said the church had impoverished his family, according to police.

Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that Shinzo Abe will be honoured with a state-funded funeral, with the public siding with the government at the time due to the popularity of the former prime minister.

Over the past few weeks, the evidence of links between the LDP and the Unification Church mounted and the estimated costs of the funeral rose, shifting the opinion of the public. Due to the outrage over Abe’s state funeral, Kishida’s popularity has also taken a hit in Japan.

During his two stints in office, from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2020, Abe's nationalist rhetoric and muscular defense policy riled many Japanese wary of any change to the country's pacifist constitution drawn up after World War Two.

(With Reuters inputs)

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