“Shinzo Abe was a far-right nationalist prime minister who held a revisionist view of Japanese military history.», gets angry Nohira Shinsaku, 73, head of an environmental NGO, who demonstrated last week in front of the Japanese Parliament in Tokyo. «In my eyes, this man does not represent Japan and does not deserve a state funeral.” loose again this activist, surrounded by more than a thousand demonstrators who are revolting against these “unworthy ceremonies”, decided by the current Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, the day after the assassination of the former head of government Shinzo Abe on 8 July. Without any consultation with parliamentarians from all parties.
In a country where protests are rare, anger is brewing and the protest movement continues to grow against these national funerals, which are also rare. Only Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida in 1967 and Emperor Hirohito in 1989 were entitled to it. «Japan is not accustomed to large official ceremonies, points out Robert Dujarric, specialist in Japan at Temple University in Tokyo, and the taxpayer wonders why his money is being used for a funeral. »
The illusion of immense popularity
Like Sayaka Sajima, head of an environmental association. He refuses that his taxes “finance such a ceremony, which will serve as propaganda for the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) in power, which has been fricking for decades with the Moon sect. It is shameful ! » The government announced on Tuesday September 6 that the funeral would cost 12 million euros.
“The Prime Minister took this decision much too quickly under pressure from the Abe clan within the PLD, but also under the influence of emotion”, assures Koichi Nakano, political scientist, teacher at the famous Jesuit University of Sophia, in Tokyo. «The international wave of tributes to Shinzo Abe fueled the idea and the illusion that he enjoyed immense popularity,” he adds.
Abroad perhaps, but not in Japan where we remember that the multiple electoral victories in 2012, 2014 and 2017 were marked by massive abstention. «Maybe Kishida regrets this choice today, but it’s too late”, let go of Koichi again. The Prime Minister would never have imagined such a challenge from public opinion, which today rejects this celebration by nearly 60%.
The Prime Minister entangled in a “politico-religious” crisis
Especially since the assassination of Shinzo Abe, by a man who blamed him for his links with the Moon sect, has revived in Japan old controversies about this organization, accused by many former followers of having financially abused them. And Kishida remains entangled in this politico-religious crisis, from which he does not really know how to get out. Hesitant to take drastic measures to get PLD deputies linked to the sect (at least half out of 381) to sever their ties with it, he reshuffled his government in early August, but some members of his new team also ties to Moon.
Moreover, he has a hard time explaining publicly why he chose to organize a state funeral. «Certainly, Shinzo Abe has broken records for longevity in his position (eight years, Editor’s note) and he was murdered, concède Koichi Nakano, but that does not make him a great prime minister. » Moreover, in his eyes, setting a date as far back as September 27 for the ceremonies in July is a tactical error. “Major demonstrations are already planned for the next few weeks, criticism will multiply and the protests will continue to grow. »