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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resumed his in-person news conferences on Aug. 31 following a bout with COVID-19 but still had no clear response to criticism over a planned state funeral for slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“I have the responsibility of taking (the criticism) seriously and for responding squarely,” Kishida said at the news conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo. 

“I will go back to my administration’s basics and give it my best shot to provide a careful explanation,” he said.

Kishida said he has instructed Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, to set up an opportunity as soon as possible for him to attend a televised Diet deliberation and respond to questions concerning the state funeral.

Hirokazu Matsuno, chief Cabinet secretary, said at a news conference on Aug. 30 that the government will disclose the costs of security and policing and other expenses for the state funeral that are not included in the Cabinet-approved 250 million yen ($1.8 million) allotment from the reserve fund.

But that disclosure won’t be made until after the funeral, planned for Sept. 27 at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, is over.

The government will pay for such costs from existing budgets depending on the situation, and will make the amount public after the funeral and after thorough checking, Matsuno said.

Opposition parties and others have been critical of the fact that the total budget allocated for the state funeral, including the costs for security and policing and other matters, remains unclear.

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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a news conference on Aug. 31 (Hiroyuki Yamamoto)

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