TOKYO, Sept 6, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Japan expects to spend around 1.7 billion
yen ($12 million) on a state funeral for assassinated former premier Shinzo
Abe, the government said Tuesday, despite controversy over the plan.

Abe was shot dead on the campaign trail in July, and the government expects
dozens of current and former heads of state to pay condolences at the
September 27 service in Tokyo.

But recent polls show about half of Japanese voters oppose the publicly
funded event.

Security is expected to cost around 800 million yen, with another 600 million
to be spent on hosting and 250 million for the ceremony, top government
spokesman Hirozaku Matsuno said Tuesday.

"Delegates from more than 190 foreign (countries and regions) will likely
participate," he told reporters at a regular briefing.

The funeral will be held at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan, a venue used for concerts
and sports events that also hosted Japan's last state funeral for a former
prime minister in 1967.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said the domestic and international
accomplishments of Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, make a
state ceremony appropriate.

But state funerals for former politicians are rare in Japan, and a weekend
poll published Monday by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper found that 56 percent
of voters oppose the event, against 38 percent in favour.

Other recent polls have shown similar levels of opposition, and Kishida has
said he is ready to answer questions on the issue in parliament.

His government's approval ratings have taken a hit in recent weeks, in part
due to the funeral decision.

Some opponents are against spending public money on an event honouring a
politician, while others think a state funeral effectively forces public
mourning or minimises Abe's nationalist views and alleged links to cronyism.

Abe's accused killer, Tetsuya Yamagami, who is in custody, targeted the
former leader believing he was linked to the Unification Church.

Yamagami's mother reportedly made large donations to the church, which her
son blamed for the family's financial difficulties.

A small private funeral for Abe was held at a temple in Tokyo shortly after
his death, with thousands of people gathering outside to lay flowers and
offer respects.