A private funeral is being held Tuesday for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose assassination last week shocked a nation and brought renewed attention to his key policies such as bolstering the nation’s defenses.
The funeral in Tokyo is for the family and close associates of Abe, who was fatally shot at close range last Friday as he was making an election campaign speech outside a train station in the western city of Nara. Larger-scale memorial services are to be held at a later date.
Thousands of politicians, diplomats and business leaders attended a wake for Abe on Monday night at a Buddhist temple in the capital. Mourners have also flooded places including his ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tokyo and the spot where he was gunned down, offering notes and flowers for the politician who shaped the country’s economy and its diplomatic course during his record-long run in office that ended in 2020.
