Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center, Cabinet members and officials put their hands together in prayer in the direction of the car carrying Shinzo Abe’s body at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on July 12 following Abe’s funeral. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The government is reportedly making arrangements for a state funeral, to be held in September, for the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

If all goes as planned, it will be the first state funeral since 1967, held for former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida (1878-1967), who led Japan during its years of post-World War II reconstruction.

Apart from members of the imperial family, the last person before Yoshida who was honored with a state funeral was Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943), a marshal admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the commander in chief of the Combined Fleet, who died in action during the Pacific War.

Yamamoto was given a full state funeral in June 1943. Going through The Asahi Shimbun's coverage of the event at the time, I found the language plainly disturbing.

Yamamoto was referred to as "the guardian deity of the Pacific who, in death, is still with us." One passage went, "The sobbing and wailing, which rose along the route of the funeral cortege, was an expression of the people's resolve to follow the same path as the spirit of the war dead, who remained loyal to his country."

I was reminded anew of the newspaper's guilt of contributing to the war effort by uplifting the nation's fighting spirit.

Although society has dramatically changed since wartime, including the adoption of a new Constitution, I think a state funeral today can still have the effect of equating mourning for the dead with extolling the dead.

I checked The Asahi Shimbun's coverage of Yoshida's funeral and found it did not go into any objective discussion of his policies.

When a politician tragically dies, it is only natural for many people to wish to mourn for the dead. Still, I don't believe holding a state funeral is the right thing to do. I say this because having everyone mourn for Abe will almost automatically lead to everyone extolling Abe.

Rather than say that no state funeral has taken place since Yoshida’s, I think it is closer to the truth to say that after Yoshida, state funerals were considered defunct for good.

When doubts arise over the appropriateness of holding a state funeral, its function of mourning for the dead comes under question. Perhaps politicians of the past were guided by something like their political know-how in avoiding holding any rite that didn't quite sit right.

Some opposition parties are criticizing the planned state funeral for Abe. But a senior official of the Liberal Democratic Party said, "Those parties' argument is at odds with the voices and recognition of the Japanese people."

The official's simplistic and utterly unapologetic statement already seems to point to the danger inherent in holding a state funeral.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 21

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Related News