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TOKYO: With flowers, prayers and a 19-gun salute, Japan honoured slain former prime minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday (Sep 27) at the first state funeral for a former premier in 55 years – a ceremony that has become as controversial as he was in life.
The ceremony started at 2pm, with Abe’s ashes carried into the Nippon Budokan Hall in central Tokyo by his widow, Akie, to music from a military band and the booms of the honour-guard salute, which echoed inside the hall.
Inside the Budokan, better known as a concert venue, a large portrait of Abe draped with black ribbon hung over a bank of green, white and yellow flowers.
Nearby, a wall of photos showed him strolling with G7 leaders, holding hands with children and visiting disaster areas.
A moment of silence was followed by a retrospective of Abe’s political life and speeches by leading ruling party figures, including Kishida and Yoshihide Suga, Abe’s successor and Kishida’s predecessor as prime minister.
In remarks representing Abe’s friends, Suga noted that many people in their 20s and 30s had showed up to offer flowers.
“You always said you wanted to make Japan better, that you wanted young people to have hope and pride,” Suga said, his voice trembling.
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