Govt. To Spend About $1.8 Mil. On Abe's State Funeral
Japanese cabinet ministers approved Friday the budget for former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's state funeral. The ceremony is set for next month. It comes with a roughly 1.8-million-dollar price tag.
Japan's government will foot the entire bill. It plans to invite 6,000 guests. The funeral will be held at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan on September 27th.
About 1.5 million dollars is allocated for preparing the venue. The rest will be spent on rental fees for the space, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses. The budget does not include costs for security. Altars will be set up in a location separate from the main venue for the public to pay tribute.
Abe was fatally shot during a July campaign speech.
His state funeral will be only the second held for a former prime minister in Japan's postwar history.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu says the government has received an outpouring of condolences, both domestic and international, and decided it needed to respond in line with international protocol.
But the plan has sparked controversy, with some arguing the government should not pay for the event.
Matsuno said, " The government has decided that it is appropriate to hold the funeral as an official national event with attendees from overseas. I will continue to explain that it is not expected that each citizen will mourn, nor should the state funeral be seen as a political issue."
Japanese government sources say Washington is considering a plan for Vice President Kamala Harris to attend the funeral. They say other possible attendees include former US President Barack Obama and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.