A society still in shock mourns its former prime minister at the Zojoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo, which has been filled with flowers in his honor
The Zojoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo hosted on Monday the Wake for the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, where his relatives, members of his party and citizens came to pay their respects on the eve of the funeral after the deadly attack against the influential Japanese politician. Hundreds of people, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, politicians from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the opposition, foreign dignitaries and citizens came to the central Tokyo temple 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,” Yuji Tsutsumi, a 62-year-old resident of Tokyo, said today, who decided to approach Zojoji to sign the book of condolences and thank there must be aided by the presence of Japan in the world. For Tsutsumi, Abe too contributed to the economic development of the country since taking office in 2012. “I was hoping he could have contributed more, but hey, Japan is a peaceful country and yet this happened, so I feel like we have to get serious again,” she lamented.
Two women aged 22 and 24, who preferred not to reveal their names, were equally surprised by the news: “I was very shocked to discover what had happened and I doubted if it could be true,” explained one, while the other said to have prayed that “it could hold on”. Both young women went to the temple to take lotus flowersa plant that has a strong spiritual connotation in the Buddhist religion and is often associated with purity, rites of passage, or rebirth.
“It left me very sad and it’s hard to believe that such an incident has happened in this country,” said Funato, a 66-year-old Tokyo resident, who came to Zojoji to thank the former prime minister “for his work done for Japan.”
Among the representatives of various countries who also came to pay their respects was the Ambassador of Spain in Japan, Fidel Sendagorta, while various Governments around the world sent their condolences through Japanese diplomatic missions in their territories. The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, also visited the Japanese capital on a last-minute trip to the Asian country to present his condolences personally to Kishida and praise the “great merits” of the late former prime minister. “Abe was a defender of the firm alliance between Japan and United States, and did great merit in strengthening cooperation with its allies,” Blinken said after abruptly changing the agenda of his recent trip to Asia and scheduling a stopover in Tokyo before returning to Washington.
highest decoration
The Government of Japan announced that it will posthumously grant the former president the Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, the country’s highest decoration, after his murder last Friday. The Cabinet of the Executive has thus decided to recognize the contributions to the nation of the one who was the longest-serving prime minister of democratic Japan for his term between 2012 and 2020, for his “many years of professional achievements, including diplomacy and security policies economic”.
Abe passed away last Friday at the age of 67 after being shot while making a speech in the street in the city of Nara, in the west of the country, in the framework of the election campaign for the Upper House of the national parliament on Sunday, in which the ruling party won a resounding victory.
A private funeral It will be held in the aforementioned temple this Tuesday before a group of relatives of the family, and it is expected that some national and foreign dignitaries will also attend.