A man has set himself on fire near the Japanese prime minister's office in Tokyo in an apparent protest against the state funeral planned next week for former leader Shinzo Abe, according to media reports.
The man, believed to be in his 70s, was taken to hospital after suffering burns to his entire body during the incident on Wednesday.
He told police he poured oil over himself before setting himself on fire, Kyodo News agency reported.
A note apparently written by the man and found nearby said: "Personally, I am absolutely against" Abe's funeral, Kyodo reported.
Police declined to confirm the incident, which took place on what would have been Mr Abe's 68th birthday.
The funeral plan, announced a week after Mr Abe's death, has become increasingly unpopular as more details of his apparent link to a controversial South Korean church have surfaced.
His alleged assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, told Japanese police his mother was a member of the church and their family had been financially ruined after she made a "huge donation", Japanese media reported, citing police sources.
Media surveys show opposition for spending taxpayer money on Mr Abe's funeral has exceeded the support for it.
The governing Liberal Democratic Party has said nearly half its MPs have ties to the church, which experts say urges Japanese followers to make large donations to make amends for their ancestral sins, including Japan's past colonisation of the Korean Peninsula.
Wires/ABC
