Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers his condolence speech at the Sept. 27 state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Pool)

The government went ahead with the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sept. 27 even though public opinion was largely opposed to the holding of the event.

A car carrying Abe’s remains left his Tokyo home around 1:30 p.m., passed by the Defense Ministry in the Ichigaya district and arrived at Nippon Budokan hall in Chiyoda Ward.

An honor guard from the Self-Defense Forces was at the hall when Abe’s remains arrived, and a 19-gun salute was delivered.

The honor guard led a procession that included Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Abe’s widow, Akie, carrying the slain politician’s remains into Nippon Budokan.

Crown Prince Fumihito and other imperial family members were among the 4,300 or so who attended the state funeral.

A moment of silence was observed after the playing of “Kimigayo,” the Japanese national anthem. An eight-minute video of Abe’s life was shown to the Nippon Budokan audience.

In his condolence speech, Kishida said: “I joined your Cabinet as foreign minister and as an ally living in the same age. One thing I can be most proud of is putting my full effort into paving a course for Japanese diplomacy.”

Yoshihide Suga, who served as chief Cabinet secretary under Abe before succeeding him as prime minister, said in his condolence speech: “I was certain that you were someone who one day had to become prime minister and who should become prime minister. I am most proud at having held that belief unchanged throughout my life.”

Suga said his greatest achievement was persuading Abe to make a second run for the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party when it was still in the opposition.

Kishida decided to hold the state funeral for Abe six days after he was assassinated while giving a campaign speech.

Subsequent revelations about the ties between Abe and the Unification Church, now known formally as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was one of the main reasons many public opinion polls found a majority of respondents opposed to the holding of the state funeral.

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