NARA -- A flower bed was completed Friday close to the site where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in Nara City last year that, although part of a previously planned project, will now serve as a de facto memorial to the late politician.
The Nara city government had been redeveloping the area around the north side of Kintetsu Railway Co.'s Yamato-Saidaiji Station prior to the shooting, and placing flower beds on sidewalks along the road were part of the project.
The actual site of the shooting has become a road as planned and was opened for traffic from Saturday.
