Shinzo Abe's state funeral to cost more than Queen Elizabeth's

Agencies | Tokyo

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe's funeral is set to take place next week amid heavy criticism from people in the country who are questioning the high cost of the event. Shinzo Abe was assassinated in July this year.

The Japanese government will shell out around 1.66 billion yen on the event, which is reportedly more than the cost of Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral, media reports said.

The controversy over Mr Abe's publicly funded funeral has triggered demonstrations in Japan where many have opposed the event. A comparison between Mr Abe's funeral and that of Queen Elizabeth's shows that the latter's estimated funeral cost was lower at about 1.3 billion yen, the report added.

People have also expressed concern as Japan spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, which was almost double the budget estimated for the event.

The contract to organise Mr Abe's funeral was given to Tokyo-based event organiser Murayama. 

As per a report by The Guardian, the Japanese government had put the estimated cost of the state funeral at 250 million yen. According to the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, some 800 million yen is estimated to be spent on the policing of the event while hosting the dignitaries is expected to cost 600 million yen.

He had further said that the bill for the state funeral could reach up to 1.7 billion yen, the report added.

Earlier this week, a man had set himself on fire near the office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while opposing the plans to hold a state funeral for Shinzo Abe.