another sin of Japanese pride: Liberation

Expensive and controversial, the former prime minister’s national funeral, held on Tuesday, confirms the arrogance of Japanese leaders, as they supported the Tokyo Olympics at all costs.–

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on July 8 in the midst of an election campaign for a senatorial ballot. An unacceptable crime, a drama and an international shock. He has been paid many tributes since then. His funeral took place on July 12 in Tokyo. In a “small committee”, but on a human scale, with some Japanese politicians and other personalities. Shinzo Abe was taken to the crematorium after a final tour of the places of power in a hearse.

Nice mess

However, on July 14, the current Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, decided that this was not enough and that Shinzo Abe needed further “state funeral” (if we can still use the word funeral in French for a deceased who has already been cremated), which are held this Tuesday. In any case, this decision has since triggered a major mess between the pro-Abe nationalists and the rest of the population. A week before the event, the police were put on high alert, the police were deployed wherever they believe there is a risk of an accident.

Sure, we haven’t seen millions of Japanese take to the streets to protest, but there are thousands of them in recurring demonstrations, and for Japan that’s already a lot. The Prime Minister justifies his choice with the desire to demonstrate that the democracy violated by this assassination will not allow itself to be defeated, and to allow “to the people” to respond to the many messages of condolence from around the world … Except that this good intention is done by defying democracy – no parliamentary debate, no basis in Japanese law – and ignoring the people who overwhelmingly are against it, according to all polls of opinion.

6,300 guests for Shinzo Abe against 2,000 for the queen

So ? The arrogance is there, in this national funeral, as it was at the Tokyo Olympics, maintained at all costs. And this, despite the opposition of citizens who consider such funerals too late, too ambiguous, too ambitious, too controversial, too expensive. And the calendar, very bad. Certainly, Kishida had not foreseen that Queen Elizabeth II of England would die and that her state funeral would take place before that of the late Abe. The comparison is not fair, but nonetheless: 2,000 guests including the Japanese emperor for the British ruler who reigned for seventy years, 6,300 guests – a third of whom refused the invitation – for the former Prime Minister Abe remained in all eight years and eight months to the head of the country, resigning twice for health reasons.

Not bad, Fumio Kishida uses this funeral, which the Japanese emperor will not attend, as a pretext to transform a bad national calculation into an international meeting of “diplomacy of condolence”. This is. Except that a United Nations General Assembly has just been held in New York, with which it is difficult to compete. The great leaders of the G7 will not be in Tokyo. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy will represent France, for example. Not to mention some invitation cards that raise questions, such as those sent to the Burmese military junta, which will be represented by its ambassador.

–