TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) – With prayers, flowers and flags draped in black ribbons, Japan on Tuesday said farewell to Shinzo Abe, a polarising figure who dominated politics as the country’s longest-serving premier, before being gunned down at a campaign rally last week.
Long lines of people dressed in black, mixed with others in informal clothing with backpacks, formed outside central Tokyo’s Zojoji temple, the site of Abe’s funeral, from early morning as ordinary people came to pay their respects.They followed hundreds who filed into the temple on Monday evening to pay their respects to Abe, who died aged 67.
His killing on Friday by an unemployed man wielding a homemade gun stunned a nation where both gun crime and political violence are extremely rare.
Keiko Noumi, a 58-year-old teacher, was one of many who came to offer prayers and flowers under cloudy skies to a large photograph of Abe set up inside the temple grounds showing him in a simple white shirt, laughing with his hands on his hips “There was a sense of security when he was the prime minister in charge of the country,” she said. “I really supported him, so this is very unfortunate.”
The 1:00 p.m. (0400 GMT) ceremony itself is open only to family and close friends. Following the funeral, the hearse bearing Abe’s body will proceed through downtown Tokyo, where black mourning ribbons draped Japanese flags.
