Saturday marked one year since former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated, with several controversial issues unresolved, including ties between lawmakers and the Unification Church, and the rules for holding a state funeral.
A memorial service was held at Zojoji, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, to mourn Japan's longest-serving premier, who was fatally shot at the age of 67 while giving an election campaign speech, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Abe's widow among the attendees.
At a gathering following the memorial, Kishida said he would "put all efforts into resolving national issues and continue to sow the seeds of the future," referring to unaccomplished Abe goals, including revising Japan's pacifist Constitution to spell out the legal status of the Self-Defense Forces.
"We will powerfully usher in the next era," Kishida said, highlighting important issues such as the repatriation of Japanese abductees from North Korea and finding effective measures to ensure stable imperial succession.
Near the site where Abe was gunned down in Nara, western Japan, dozens of people lined up in the morning to lay flowers.
"The public has been divided over how to evaluate Mr. Abe, but resorting to violence is unacceptable," said Yui Sugiyama, a 35-year-old company employee who resides in Nara.
"I cannot believe that he passed away," a 35-year-old woman said, while Hayato Sugiyama, a 58-year-old company executive from Shizuoka, said, "I want the case to be investigated thoroughly."
At the site, local police arrested a man for holding up an object resembling a gun and causing a disturbance. The suspect, who had pipes bundled together with black adhesive tapes, is refusing to answer police questions, they said.
Abe was targeted due to his perceived links to the church, founded in South Korea in 1954 by a staunch anti-communist. The assailant, Tetsuya Yamagami, said his mother's substantial donations to the religious corporation ruined his family's finances.
The Unification Church was established in Japan in 1968 with the support of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, the grandfather of Abe, who led the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
In the wake of revelations about connections between many lawmakers of the LDP, now headed by Kishida, and the Unification Church, often labeled as a cult, the approval ratings for his Cabinet plunged to the lowest levels since its launch in October 2021.
While some ministers were effectively sacked after reports of their dubious links with the Unification Church, Japan's parliament enacted a law prohibiting organizations from maliciously soliciting donations five months after Abe was killed.
The legislation aims to prevent new victims of controversial religious groups, but lawyers supporting people who have suffered financial ruin after huge donations to the Unification Church have lambasted the hastily crafted law.
Saying the legislation has a large number of deficiencies, the lawyers have pointed out that it is unlikely to help most victims of the religious organization, known for its "spiritual sales," in which people are pressured into purchasing items at exorbitant prices.
Although the new legislation bans groups from "confusing" people through tactics such as "stoking fear," one of the lawyers has argued that some believers "willingly" offer massive donations to them.
The Kishida administration, meanwhile, began investigating the Unification Church in November 2022, paving the way for asking a court to consider depriving the organization of its status as a religious corporation with tax benefits.
If the probe confirms that the Unification Church has violated laws and damaged public welfare, the government can request a court to order its "dissolution." But the group will still be able to operate even if its status as a religious corporation is removed.
In addition to the Unification Church, which apparently tried to exert influence in the political arena for its own interests, Kishida's decision to hold a state funeral for Abe in September 2022 without parliamentary deliberations sparked criticism of his government.
Abe was well known for his conservative and hawkish security views, while Kishida is one of the more liberal-leaning politicians in the LDP. Kishida may have swiftly decided to host Abe's state funeral to garner support from conservative lawmakers, pundits said.
The state-sponsored ceremony for Abe was only the second for a former prime minister in the postwar period, following one for Shigeru Yoshida, who signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, allowing Japan to regain its sovereignty.
But conducting a state funeral for a former premier in Japan has no legal basis, while the Kishida administration allocated around 1.2 billion yen ($8.4 million) of taxpayers' money for the Abe event, triggering a strong public backlash.
Earlier this month, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government has been progressing in compiling records related to the state funeral for Abe.
Kishida's government is expected to finish collecting the records by the end of August, but it would not touch on the pros or cons of the state funeral itself, sources close to the matter said.
Born into a prominent political family, Abe worked as a secretary for his father before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1993. He was prime minister for one year from 2006 and staged a comeback as Japan's top political leader in 2012.
Even after leaving office for health reasons in 2020, Abe maintained influence by taking up the leadership of the biggest faction within the LDP, prodding critics to bash him for attempting to become a kingmaker.
Abe built his profile abroad by emphasizing foreign policy while forging a rapport with world leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump. At home, however, opinion on his legacy has been divided based on allegations he abused his power for personal gain.
Abe died on July 8 last year after being shot at close range with a handmade gun while giving a campaign speech two days ahead of the House of Councillors election. Yamagami was arrested on the spot.
As gun ownership is strictly controlled in Japan, which prides itself on being a safe society, the fatal shooting sent shockwaves in and outside the country.
