<figure id="attachment_254264" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 5000px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-254264"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f1de0846"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/07/aflo_193547313.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-254264" class="wp-caption-text">Questions have begun to emerge from within the party about the &#8220;political use&#8221; of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe&#8217;s funeral Photo: Reuters/Afro</figcaption></figure>
On July 8, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed during a street speech. Then, on July 14, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced at a press conference that he would hold a &#8220;state funeral&#8221; for former Prime Minister Abe.
 He was &#8220;a man of outstanding leadership and executive ability who carried out the heavy responsibilities of the prime ministership. He was a great leader and a man of action.&#8221;
 &#8220;By holding his state funeral, I would like to demonstrate our country&#8217;s determination to resolutely defend democracy without violence.
But there is growing opposition to this &#8220;reason.
 First of all, there are voices within the party that say, &#8220;Not giving in to violence and praising former Prime Minister Abe are two completely different things. As the background of this incident becomes clearer, it is said that it is far removed from the so-called &#8220;crisis of democracy.
While &#8220;#Opposition to National Funeral&#8221; has become a trending word on social networking services, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and others have been quick to express their support for the idea.
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Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno explained the &#8220;national funeral&#8221; at a press conference as follows.
 The Abe administration has been in power for the longest period in the history of constitutional government, and we have received many messages of condolence from abroad. We will make adjustments in consultation with the bereaved families and other concerned parties regarding the attendance of foreign dignitaries and the timing of the Cabinet decision.
The date, location, and scale of the event are still being worked out, but according to a senior official at the prime minister&#8217;s office, the plan is to hold it at the Nippon Budokan in September.
However, questions have been raised even within the LDP about whether the Kishida administration&#8217;s decision to hold a state funeral is &#8220;a political use of the death of former Prime Minister Abe.
<h2>A senior LDP official confesses his discomfort.</h2>
The most recent &#8220;national funeral&#8221; was that of Emperor Showa. In the past, funerals for former prime ministers have been held as a &#8220;joint funeral of the cabinet and the LDP. The most recent example is that of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who died in 2008. A senior LDP official did not hide his bitterness.
 The only state funeral for former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida since the end of World War II was held in In 1967, the only postwar state funeral for former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was held. In 1967, the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was held without any religious overtones. The cabinet of then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato decided that he was the prime minister who had contributed to the independence and reconstruction of Japan, which had been scorched by World War II.
That Prime Minister Sato, who advocated the three non-nuclear principles, won the Nobel Peace Prize, achieved the reversion of Okinawa, and was in power for 2,798 days, was not given a state funeral but a national funeral when he died.
 But in the case of former Prime Minister Nakasone, who was also awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit, it was a joint funeral, not a state funeral. The people can&#8217;t get an explanation. It just doesn&#8217;t add up.
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<h2>I will mourn Abe in my own way.</h2>
This LDP official continued.
 This &#8216;forced state funeral&#8217; is an appeal by PM Kishida to the Abe faction (Seiwa-kai), the largest faction in the LDP, and the LDP&#8217;s core conservative base by showing his deepest condolences to Mr. Abe in the form of a state funeral. I can see a political intention to make the party &#8220;Kishida-dominated&#8221;.
 Therefore, I will not attend the state funeral, but will mourn the death of a politician named Shinzo Abe to the best of my ability.
The &#8220;National Funeral Order&#8221; enacted in 1926 was an imperial decree, and was abolished at the same time the current Constitution came into effect. The practice of holding state funerals for politicians may violate the separation of church and state as stipulated in the Constitution. This is one of the reasons why the funerals of Nobusuke Kishi and Yasuhiro Nakasone were not held as &#8220;state funerals. However, a former cabinet member said, &#8220;There are other reasons to hold state funerals.
 If we hold a state funeral, dignitaries from various countries will come to Japan. Following the Japan-U.S. summit meeting in May, the Kishida administration may be planning to make full use of this as a political opportunity to hold summit meetings with China and Russia in the future.
<h2>Prime Minister Kishida&#8217;s &#8220;Smartness</h2>
Just prior to the Upper House election, former Prime Minister Abe described Prime Minister Kishida as follows.
 He said, &#8220;The Kishida administration has announced its intention to revise the Constitution, so we have to support it well.
A member of the Abe faction in the House of Councillors, who heard this directly from Prime Minister Kishida, recalled, &#8220;Fumio Kishida was a very determined man.
 Fumio Kishida is a shrewd politician. He holds the revision of the Constitution hostage while running his administration. Even Mr. Abe&#8217;s funeral is seen by him as a &#8220;political pawn.
Amid the &#8220;doubts&#8221; from within the LDP, the opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party, the Reiwa Newly Elected Government, and the Japanese Communist Party have expressed their opposition to the state funeral, while expressing their condolences. In his statement, Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii expressed his &#8221; deepest condolences for the loss of former Prime Minister Abe, who was killed by an illegal shooting,&#8221; and said, &#8220;As we were both involved in national politics, even though our political positions were different, we will show courtesy to the deceased. He also expressed his concern about the &#8221; full recognition of Mr. Abe&#8217;s political positions and stances, which are widely divided among the public, and the praise and adoration of Mr. Abe&#8217;s politics as the nation as a whole.
<h2>Mourning &#8220;Emotions&#8221; and &#8220;Thoughts&#8221; Should be Separated</h2>
Psychiatrist Dr. Hideki Wada said, &#8220;The former Prime Minister Abe&#8217;s wife, Ms. Wada, is a great friend.
 Former Prime Minister Abe&#8217;s wife, Akie, is a friend of mine, and I offer my deepest condolences for what has happened. On the other hand, I feel that this poses a certain danger to Japan&#8217;s future. Mr. Abe&#8217;s policies will be beautified. It is very dangerous to make important policy decisions, such as constitutional reform, out of a sense of awe that Mr. Abe was a great man and a desire to fulfill his legacy. Emotions should be separated from thoughts.&#8221;
In the past, a &#8220;mourning election&#8221; was held in the wake of Prime Minister Ohira&#8217;s death, and the LDP won the popular elections. It was also said that a politician should always attend funerals in his own constituency and, if it rains, see off the coffin soaking wet and without an umbrella. Politics has always been closely connected with death. This is why we should be cautious about &#8220;state funerals&#8221; for politicians.

 Shutaro Iwashiro

 Reuters/Afro

 On July 8, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed during a speech in the street. On July 14, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced at a press conference that he would hold a "state funeral" for Abe. He said, "With his outstanding leadership and executive ability, the prime minister's

Former Prime Minister Abe’s “political use” of the “national funeral” draws criticism from within the LDP.

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