Japan Press Weekly

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2022 November 30 - December 6 [POLITICS]

Legal experts in Diet hearing criticize ‘state funeral’ as political exploitation of Abe’s death

A council, which consists of each political party member of the House of Representatives, to review the former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s “state funeral” on November 30 invited three legal experts as unsworn witnesses to hear their opinions.

The Japanese Communist Party sent its Lower House member Shiokawa Tetsuya to the council.

In the Diet hearing, one of the three experts, Kyushu University Professor Minamino Shigeru, described ex-PM Abe’s “state funeral” as political exploitation of the dead. He expressed his doubt that the aim of the “state funeral” was to gain the favor of Abe’s supporters.

JCP Shiokawa pointed out that many cases regarding the imposition on the general public of a need to express condolences over Abe’s death occurred on the day of the controversial event. As an example, he cited a case of Yamaguchi Prefecture in which the prefecture’s education board requested public schools to fly a flag in mourning and offer a moment of silence during the state funeral. Minamino said that to make such a request to public schools was undesirable, and criticized the Yamaguchi prefectural education board’s act as totally inappropriate.

When JCP Shiokawa pointed out that it is hard to avoid the impression that the state funeral for ex-PM Abe took place as a ceremony to bolster and justify his political stance, Minamino said that there is some truth in Shiokawa’s perspective. Another expert, Waseda University Professor Hasebe Yasuo said that decision-making on a state funeral only by the Cabinet will have a risk of including the Cabinet’s political intentions.

At a council meeting on December 2, JCP Shiokawa criticized the Kishida administration for forcibly conducting Abe’s state funeral by Cabinet decision. He pointed out that the Kishida government intended to enhance and justify PM Kishida’s political position as Abe’s successor by putting a spotlight on the late PM Abe’s “achievements” through special treatment offered by the state funeral. He said that a state funeral for a deceased politician is an act of political exploitation based on political parties’ interests and thus such an event should not be allowed.

Past related article:
> JCP in Yamaguchi protests against imposition on schools to fly at half-mast Hinomaru flag following ex-PM Abe’s death [July 17, 2022]