Photo/Illutration Attendees at the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held on Sept. 27 at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Pool)

Many Japanese folk tales are about greedy people getting their just deserts. “Shitakiri Suzume” (The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue) is a typical example.

A ruthless and avaricious old woman goes to an inn of sparrows and forces the birds to give her a large basket, which she hopes is filled with treasures. When she opens the basket on her way home, however, terrible monsters leap out from it.

I think Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, too, got a bit too greedy.

It is said his reason for basically making a snap decision to hold a state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was so he could hold on to the late prime minister’s conservative support base.

Kishida probably also believed that inviting foreign heads of state from around the world would be convenient for conducting “funeral diplomacy.”

What he did not expect was the rush of public opinion opposed to the state funeral. He had to go to the trouble of assuring people that no one would be forced to mourn.

The legal basis of honoring Abe with a state funeral was flimsy, at best, to begin with. Political scientist Izuru Makihara said it best when he described it as a “faux state funeral” in his comments to The Asahi Shimbun.

Back in July, I warned in this column that one of the dangers of the state funeral was that nationwide mourning could lead to the entire nation extolling Abe in unison.

At the moment, however, people are openly criticizing Abe for his ties to the former Unification Church. It was regrettable the state funeral had to take place, but at least we appear to have been spared a unanimous glorification of the deceased.

In his eulogy, Kishida touched on Abe’s efforts to deal with the past abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents and noted how deeply disappointing it must have been to him that he could not bring all the abductees home.

That comment, actually, can be taken as a direct criticism of Abe as it implies that he failed to produce results despite his record-long years in office.

Public opinion is divided on Abe’s many policies and doings that ranged from national security to economics.

Let me reiterate it is most important to properly assess his achievements and failings as we send him off. May he rest in peace.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 28

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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.

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