Japan Allocates IDR 27.1 Billion For State Funeral Of Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe. (Wikimedia Commons/Prime Minister's official residence homepage)

JAKARTA - The Japanese government has announced that it will allocate about 1.83 million US dollars, or around IDR 27.109.437.000, for the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead during a speech during a general election campaign on July 8 in Nara City.

The late Abe was buried shortly after. However, the Japanese Government decided to hold a state funeral at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan arena on September 27.

"Abe is highly respected both in Japan and internationally, and there have been many messages of condolences (since his death)," chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference.

"We believe Japan as a country needs to treat it as international etiquette, so we decided that it is best to conduct this funeral, as an official event organized by the government and inviting international visitors," he said.

It is known that the last fully-funded funeral for a prime minister was for Shigeru Yoshida in 1967.

Subsequent funerals have been paid for by the state and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), of which Abe is a member of the influential party.

It is understood several current and former world leaders are expected to attend, with news reports saying arrangements are being made for former US President Barack Obama to attend. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend, the Kremlin said in July.