Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe to Have Family Funeral at Tokyo Temple on the 12th (Comprehensive)

On the afternoon of the 8th, when former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died from a gunshot, citizens gathered near the Yamato Saidaiji area in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan, the site of the incident, to pay their respects. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The body of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed during an election campaign in the provinces, arrived at his residence in Tokyo, the capital, on the 9th. The funeral is scheduled to be held as a family ceremony at a temple in Tokyo on the 12th.

According to foreign media including NHK on the day, former Prime Minister Abe's funeral will be held on the 12th after a tsuya (通夜, overnight vigil) where relatives and acquaintances console the bereaved family through the night on the 11th, the day after the House of Councillors election.

According to Abe's office, the chief mourner will be Abe's wife, Akie Abe. The couple had no children. The tsuya and funeral will be held at a temple located in Minato-gu, Tokyo.

The hearse carrying former Prime Minister Abe's body arrived at his residence in Shibuya-gu, Tokyo, around 1:35 p.m. At the residence, Tatsuya Fukuda, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Sanae Takaichi, Chairperson of the LDP Policy Research Council, who were waiting in advance, greeted the hearse carrying Akie Abe. Kyodo News reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also visited former Prime Minister Abe's residence afterward to pay his respects.

It is expected that a funeral jointly hosted by the government and the Liberal Democratic Party will be held with Prime Minister Kishida serving as the funeral committee chairman. In the past, during former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone's funeral, then-Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also served as the funeral committee chairman, and the funeral was held jointly by the government and the LDP.

It has been reported that condolences from fellow lawmakers and others will basically not be accepted. The funeral will be conducted as a family ceremony attended only by close relatives and related parties.

Former Prime Minister Abe was shot and collapsed while campaigning on the street in Nara City around 11:30 a.m. the previous day. He was transported to the hospital but died from excessive bleeding.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.