<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Amid tight security, about 4,300 attendees will be gathering Tuesday in Tokyo to pay their respects at a state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July while campaigning for an election.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo are among about 700 foreign dignitaries from 218 countries, regions and international organizations planning to attend.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The general public will be able to lay flowers at a nearby park, while rallies protesting the controversial state funeral are also planned in Tokyo and elsewhere.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state funeral will be a three-hour ceremony held at the Nippon Budokan. About 20,000 police officers will be mobilized to ensure security in the capital.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, who served as chief Cabinet secretary under Abe for nearly eight years, will be offering eulogies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It is the second time a former prime minister has been honored with a state funeral under the current Constitution, after one was held for former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida in 1967.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Traditionally, funerals for former prime ministers have been jointly held by the government and their political party, but Kishida decided to hold a state funeral for Abe to honor his legacy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, the decision has been criticized for a variety of reasons, such as the lack of a clear legal basis for holding a state funeral, that it could force the public to mourn Abe despite his divisive legacy, and that it will be costly compared with a funeral jointly held with the LDP.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kishida has said that a law on the government’s management of national ceremonies gives it the authority to hold a state funeral, and that the public will not be asked to engage in expressions of mourning. The government has also said the state funeral will cost about ¥1.6 billion (about $11.1 million), including security costs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But some opposition party lawmakers, including Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi, have said they will boycott the ceremony, since they remain unconvinced by the government’s explanation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In July, Abe was shot dead while he was campaigning in the Upper House election, with the alleged shooter claiming he held a grudge against Abe after the former leader sent a supportive message to a group tied to the controversial Unification Church. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The suspect said his mother had bankrupted the family due to excessive donations to the group. TJT</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>