Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe’s funeral is set to take place next week amid heavy criticism from people in the country who are questioning the high cost of the event. Shinzo Abe was assassinated in July this year.
According to media sources, the Japanese government would spend 1.66 billion yen on the occasion, which is apparently more than the price of Queen Elizabeth II’s state burial. Many in Japan have pointed out that the Queen’s state funeral in London drew the majority of the world’s current leaders, whereas those attending Abe’s are primarily former leaders.
The controversy over Abe’s publicly funded funeral has triggered demonstrations in Japan where many have opposed the event. A comparison between Abe’s funeral and that of Queen Elizabeth’s shows that the latter’s estimated funeral cost was lower at about 1.3 billion yen, the report added. People have also expressed concern as Japan spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, which was almost double the budget estimated for the event.
Abe is only the second prime minister in Japanese history to have a state funeral after his life was cut short at the age of 67 in a shockingly violent and rare tragedy.
Shigeru Yoshida, who led the nation shortly after the conclusion of World War II and is largely regarded with determining the course of post-war Japan, had the last state funeral 55 years ago. In reaction to the price on Abe’s burial, some regional media sites brought up Yoshida’s funeral, which cost 18 million yen in 1967, or 70 million yen now.
The contract to organise Abe’s funeral was given to Tokyo-based event organiser Murayama.
The Japanese government calculated the cost of the state funeral at 250 million yen, according to a story by The Guardian. Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief cabinet secretary, estimates that the cost of receiving the dignitaries would be 600 million yen, while the cost of maintaining order during the event is likely to be 800 million yen. The report also stated that he had further stated that the cost of the state burial may total up to 1.7 billion yen.
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