Photo/Illutration Akie Abe addresses participants at the Yamaguchi prefectural funeral held Oct. 15 for her late husband, Shinzo, the nation’s longest-serving prime minister who was murdered in Nara city on July 8. (Jun Kaneko)

SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi Prefecture--The home prefecture of slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a funeral service here Oct. 15 for its most famous son.

The ceremony at the Kaikyo Messe Shimonoseki attracted around 2,000 participants.

For many years, Abe, who was gunned down July 8 in the city of Nara, represented a Lower House district centered on Shimonoseki.

The eulogy was read by Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda. He headed the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party before Abe took over after Hosoda became speaker in November 2021.

Pointing out that Abe served as prime minister for eight years and eight months, the longest on record, Hosoda said, “You were always making every effort to accomplish economic growth, reform the administrative, fiscal and educational systems and for reconstruction after natural disasters.”

He hailed Abe’s “great achievements in contributing to improving Japan’s position in the international community.”

Hosoda has been mired in scandal due to a spate of recent reports about his close ties to the Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Hosoda fanned the flames initially by refusing to comment on his ties to the religious group, but had a change of heart following a mounting public furor. He has tried to explain his dealings with the church on two separate occasions since then, but the opposition parties remain far from mollified, given the very senior position he still holds.

The spotlight on the Unification Church began to shine brightly after Abe’s alleged killer told police he held a grudge against the organization because his mother made huge donations to it, forcing the family to live in poverty. He said he targeted Abe because he believed, correctly as it turned out, that he had close ties with the church.

On behalf of the bereaved family, Abe’s widow, Akie, addressed the participants.

“The days have passed by in a sense of disbelief, but gradually the reality has begun to sink in,” she said. “I feel a greater sense of loneliness when I realize he really is no longer here.”

Among the 2,000 participants at the prefectural funeral were 80 or so members of the LDP faction Abe once led.

Abe is the sixth individual for which Yamaguchi Prefecture has hosted a funeral. Two others include his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, a former prime minister, and his father, Shintaro, a former foreign minister.

According to Yamaguchi prefectural officials, the total cost of the funeral came to about 63 million yen ($423,000), half of which will be covered by the LDP’s Yamaguchi chapter and other organizations.

In addition to the Shimonoseki venue, tables were set up in seven locations around the prefecture where residents could offer flowers. Those locations also had video monitors so people could watch the ceremony unfolding in Shimonoseki.

The state funeral held for Abe in Tokyo on Sept. 27 sharply divided public opinion with protest rallies held around the nation. The prefectural ceremony also drew much criticism and protests were held in a number of locations across Yamaguchi Prefecture on Oct. 15.

(Hiroyuki Takei contributed to this article.)

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