Japan to spend $12 million on ex-PM Shinzo Abe's state funeral
Japan will spend about 1.65 billion yen ($12 million) on the state funeral planned for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to the government's new estimate on Tuesday that includes security and reception costs.
The government in late August approved a more modest budget of 250 million yen for the funeral but then faced criticism for what was deemed an unrealistic figure that excluded hefty outlays for the security and hosting of VIPs, Reuters reported.
The government is now estimating the security fee for the funeral will reach about 800 million yen, while hosting foreign delegations will cost about 600 million yen, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced.
"If we were to give a simplified estimate, I guess the total would be close to what you said," he said in response to a question asking whether the total of the state funeral would be about 1.7 billion yen.
Some 6,000 guests are expected to attend the ceremony, to be held on Sept. 27 at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan hall. Those guests include over 190 foreign delegations, of which about 50 are expected to include head-of-state level VIPs according to Matsuno. Abe was shot to death during an election rally in July.
"We decided to give this estimation in accordance with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's bid to be thorough about clarifying the details" of the state funeral, Matsuno said.