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Shinzo Abe: State funeral will eventually cost $12 million

The state funeral of the former prime minister will take place on September 27 in Tokyo Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on July 8 while giving a pre-election speech near train station in Nara city.

The Japanese government will spend about 1.65 billion yen ($12 million) on the funeral, according to the government’s latest calculations, which include the costs of security measures and the reception of guests.

The government announced at the end of August a much smaller budget for the funeral that will become a public expenditure, amounting to 250 million yen. But he was criticized for this amount, which was considered unrealistic and did not include the expenses for the security and hospitality of Japan’s dignitaries.

The government of Fumio Kishida now estimates that the expenditure on security measures will amount to 800 million yen and that for hosting foreign delegations to about 600 million yenexplained government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno.

“If we were to make a simplified estimate, I guess the total (expenditure) would be close to what you said,” the government spokesman replied when asked if the cost to the public would actually be around 1.7 billion yen.

6,000 guests

About 6,000 guests are expected to attend her ceremony funeral. That number includes members of 190 foreign delegations, and some 50 countries will send their heads of state or top government officials, according to Mr. Matsuno.

The opposition to the funeral public expenditure of the politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has been Japan’s longest-serving prime minister escalated after revelations about Shinzo Abe and other ruling party officials’ ties to the controversial Unification Church. Fumio Kishida’s popularity is on the decline due to the revelations.

“We decided to publish this assessment in the context of the prime minister’s effort (…) to clarify all the details” of the state funeral, the government spokesman said, as reported by APE-MPE, citing Reuters.

The accused for the murder of Shinzo Abe testified that he was furious with the religious organization, known for her mass weddings and highly aggressive fundraising practices, and believed the former prime minister had ties to her, according to Japanese media.

A poll conducted on behalf of the Yomiuri newspaper this month indicated that 56% of Japanese oppose holding a state funeral, while 38% are in favor.

Source: News Beast

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