Shinzo Abe's death on Friday sent shockwaves across the world.
Thousands of mourners filled the streets today to say a final goodbye to Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
Shockwaves were sent around the world on Friday when the former leader was shot dead during a campaign speech ahead of upper house elections.
Today a hearse carrying Abe’s body passed several of Tokyo’s landmarks before arriving at the Kirigaya funeral hall.
A long line of people carrying bouquets of flowers stretched from outside the building, crying, bowing, clapping and shouting ‘Goodbye Abe’.
Abe’s widow, Akie Abe, was sat in the front seat of the hearse, as the motorcade passed the HQ of the former prime minister’s Liberal Democratic Party.
It then headed to current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s home, where lawmakers paid their respects.
The motorcade then passed the parliament building, where Abe first started his career as a lawmaker in 1993, before reaching the funeral hall.
Earlier in the day a private funeral exclusively for friends and family was held at the Zojoji temple.
Keiko Noumi, a 58-year-old teacher, was one of many who came to offer prayers and flowers to a large photograph of Abe set up inside the temple grounds.
‘There was a sense of security when he was the prime minister in charge of the country,’ she said. ‘I really supported him, so this is very unfortunate.’
Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, who was arrested on the spot right after Abe’s killing, allegedly spent months planning his attack with a homemade gun.
He believed the Abe, 67, was linked to a religious group he blamed for his mother’s financial ruin, authorities said.
The Unification Church, known for its mass weddings and devoted following, said on Monday the suspect’s mother was one of its members.
The assassination, in the western city of Nara, was a huge shock to Japan, where both gun crime and political violence are extremely rare.
Tributes poured in from leaders across the world, with Boris Johnson saying his ‘global leadership through unchartered times will be remembered by many’.
French leader Emmanuel Macron said he had ‘lost a friend’ and said Abe ‘served his country with great courage and audacity’.
Shinzo Abe was born into a prominent political family and became Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.
He served two separate stints, first from 2006 to 2007 and then from 2012 to 2020 and was credited with instilling political and economic stability.
But he angered South Korea and China – along with many Japanese – with his nationalistic rhetoric, his tendency to downplay Japan’s wartime atrocities, and calls to revise the country’s pacifist constitution.
Even after leaving office, Abe showed he was willing to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party.
In a speech in December, he warned against an invasion of Taiwan – a self-governing island democracy that China declares as its own.
He warned that ‘military adventure would lead to economic suicide’, hinting that an such an attack could meet conditions for Tokyo to use military action.
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