Goodbye to Shinzo Abe in Japan: a “shocked” country has buried the former prime minister who was shot dead

The family and friends of assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid tribute to him on Monday in Tokyo, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called him “farsighted man“.

The hearse with Abe’s remains arrived at Zojoji temple Monday afternoon for this funeral that brings together authorities and businessmen.

Hundreds of people, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, politicians from the ruling and opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), foreign dignitaries and citizens came to the central temple of the Japanese capital to pay their respects, as well as floral offerings to the former president.

“I was very surprised by the news, also by the sympathy he received from abroad after his death,” said today Yuji Tsutsumi, a 62-year-old Tokyo resident, deciding approach Zojoji to sign the condolence book and give thanks to Abe for helping Japan’s presence in the world.

Equally surprised by the news were two women aged 22 and 24, who preferred not to reveal their names: ” very shocked to find out what had happened and I doubted it could be true, “explained one, while the other said he prayed for” to be able to resist “.

Both young women went to the temple to bring lotus flowers, a plant that in the Buddhist religion has a strong spiritual connotation and is often associated with purity, rites of passage or rebirth.

Previously, Blinken, who was in Asia, had made an unscheduled visit to Japan express condolences from the United States. The US Secretary of State delivered a letter from US President Joe Biden addressed to Abe’s family to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“When one friend suffers, the other comes,” Blinken said. He added that Abe “has done more than anyone to take the relationship” between the two countries to new heights.

“We will do everything to help our friends bear the brunt of this loss“He said, calling Abe a” man with a vision of the future and the ability to carry that vision forward. “

Shinzo Abe’s killer explained

The defendant of the murdered man, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, is in custody and told investigators that he assaulted Abe because he believed the politician was linked to a religious organization.

The suspect’s mother is a member of the Unification Church, the organization known as the “Moon Sect” confirmed Monday. The local press said the Yamagami’s family had suffered from financial problems as a result of her mother’s donations to the group.

Yamagami wanted revenge on an “organization,” it emerged on Friday, before the entity’s name was known. The suspect thought the former prime minister had a connection with this group.

“He attended our events once a month,” said Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Unification Church in Japan, at a short notice press conference in which refused to comment on the suspect’s mother’s donations.

Tanaka said he was horrified by the “savage” murder and indicated that he will cooperate in the investigation.

It is speculated that Yamagami spent three years in the Japanese navy and watched YouTube videos to learn how to make homemade weapons like the one used in the attack, sources close to the investigation told local media.

Triumph of the ruling party in Japan after the assassination of Shinzo Abe

The ruling coalition in Japan also consolidated its Senate majority in Sunday’s elections, held two days after Shinzo Abe’s death, during an election act.

In the election, which took place despite the national uproar over the assassination, Prime Minister Kishida said that the importance of demonstrating that violence cannot defeat democracy.

The ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to which Abe belonged, and his allies in the Komeito party have strengthened their position and have a comfortable majority with more than 76 of the 125 seats in the House talla gain of 10 lawmakers, according to national media.

Even before the crime, a victory was expected and with this advance the way opens for major reforms, such as an amendment to the constitution, a reform that Abe wanted to implement to leave behind the pacifist character that defines Japan to recognize the armed forces. .

The prime minister told reporters that the seats won represent an opportunity to “protect Japan” and cement Abe’s achievements.

Kishida, who took office in September, vowed to fight the pandemic, inflation and problems stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it has been speculated that Abe’s crime could increase popular support.

Source: AFP