Japan's Cabinet approves $2.5m for Abe state funeral

Japan's Cabinet approved yesterday a price tag of 249 million yen (S$2.5 million) for a controversial state funeral next month for former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

The final bill, however, will be higher because the approved sum covers only venue and transport logistics, as well as at least one separate venue for the public to offer flowers, but not costs to provide security for VIPs.

About 6,000 guests are expected to attend the Sept 27 event at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo. They include French President Emmanuel Macron, US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Opinion polls by newspapers across the political divide in Japan have shown that a majority of the public are against the state funeral for Mr Abe, who died on July 8 after he was shot at an election rally.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stressed yesterday: "We note that there are varying opinions about the state funeral. Ordinary citizens will not be expected to mourn Mr Abe, nor extol the government."

Tokyo is not asking public agencies, local governments and education boards to fly the flag at half-mast or observe a minute of silence. The date will also not be a national holiday.

The gunman, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, said he targeted Mr Abe because of his alleged ties with the Unification Church, a religious group founded in South Korea and known for its coercive measures. It has also been described as a "cult" in several countries.

Yamagami, who had watched an online video message by Mr Abe to an affiliated group of the church, said his mother went bankrupt after she joined the church and was brainwashed into making excessive donations.

The idea of a state funeral - which is fully paid for by taxpayers - for Mr Abe is controversial for several reasons.

A state funeral is a relic of Japan's imperial history, with a decree stipulating that citizens should mourn. The ordinance expired when the post-war Constitution was enacted in 1947.

An online petition was started on Tuesday by 17 observers, including University of Tokyo professor emeritus and prominent sociologist Chizuko Ueno, calling for the state funeral to be cancelled as it is unconstitutional.

The petition argues that the state funeral not only violates the guarantees for freedom of thought and conscience among the people, but also lionises Mr Abe, which is inappropriate, given the apparent "collusion" between politics and religion in this case.

Mr Abe was also a divisive politician domestically, in contrast to his global stature as a statesman who raised Japan's international profile and introduced the term "Indo-Pacific".

While Mr Abe may have been Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Doshisha University political scientist Toru Yoshida noted how the former prime minister had "benefited" from a weak opposition. His tenure was also clouded by cronyism scandals that created an aura of opacity and complacency in his government.

Another reason for the controversy is that more than two months have elapsed since Mr Abe's death, said Dr Sota Kato, a research director at The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research.

Public grief has not only subsided, but also turned into anger after "too many political elements have become involved", he said, pointing to the alleged deep links between the Unification Church and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that have led to a backlash in public opinion.

A slew of lawmakers from the LDP and opposition parties have since come clean on their ties with the church in the form of donations, recruiting church members as volunteers in election campaigns, or making speeches at church events.