The controversial state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cost around 1.2 billion yen ($8.1 million), less than the initially estimated 1.66 billion yen, the Japanese government said Friday.

The taxpayer-funded ceremony was held Sept. 27 in Tokyo for Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, who was fatally shot while giving an election campaign speech in early July.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's state funeral is held at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo on Sept. 27, 2022. (Kyodo)

A month after it decided to hold the state funeral, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in August it would spend 249 million yen to cover the cost of the venue.

But the government in early September said it would allocate an additional 1.4 billion yen to cover security costs and welcome foreign dignitaries, bringing the total price tag to over 1.6 billion yen, sparking concern that the total cost would balloon further.

On Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a regular news conference that spending on security and accepting overseas guests was reduced as they stayed in Japan for shorter periods than the government had originally expected.

Japan's first state funeral for a former prime minister in 55 years was attended by more than 4,000 people from home and abroad, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The figure released Friday compares with the reported 8 million pounds ($9 million) spent on the state funeral for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 19 that was attended by 2,000 people.

The government announced on July 22 that it would hold the state funeral for the divisive former leader, sparking harsh criticism of Kishida and a plunge in his Cabinet's approval ratings.

Calls grew for the ceremony to be canceled, with opposition lawmakers arguing there was no legal basis for staging a state funeral for a former prime minister.

In consideration of lingering opposition to the state funeral, Matsuno said Friday that the government would start to collect the views of more than 20 experts on constitutional and other matters regarding the event.

In the post-World War II period, Japan had previously only held a state funeral in 1967 for former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who led the country's recovery from the war.

Abe, who died aged 67, was prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020.


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