• Prayers, flowers and black ribbons as Shinzo Abe’s funeral procession passes through Tokyo.
• Abe got shot at a campaign rally last week by a man wielding a homemade gun.
• Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and cabinet ministers attend private ceremony.

Shinzo Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime, was remembered in Japan; on Tuesday with prayers, flowers, and flags adorned with black ribbons. Abe was a divisive figure who dominated politics; before he got fatally shot at a campaign event last week.

As the funeral carrying Abe, who passed away at the age of 67; left a major Tokyo shrine and proceeded across the city, crowds crowded the sidewalks; that has police everywhere.

As the funeral passed in a procession televised live by broadcaster NHK; people knelt in prayer and bowed profoundly. Nearly a dozen helicopters were circling overhead. Others applauded, waved, or cheered.

One man screamed again, “Thank you very much for your efforts for our country.

Prior to the private event, hundreds of people paid their condolences at the temple; where Abe’s burial was on Monday evening and Tuesday morning. In a country where political violence and gun crime are incredibly rare; his assassination on Friday by an unemployed guy brandishing a handmade pistol; surprised the public.

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A large crowd had gathered in front of the parliament building; which Abe first visited as a young MP in 1993 after the passing of his politician father; in Nagatacho, the political hub of the city.

The office where Abe, who was Japan’s youngest prime minister when he first assumed office; oversaw the country for two terms, the longest of which lasted from 2012 to 2020. He then resigned due to health issues, was where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida; and a group of cabinet ministers quietly waited.

Kishida bent his head and wrapped a pair of Buddhist rosary beads; around his clasped hands as the hearse slowly past. Akie, Abe’s widow, bowed from the hearse’s front seat.

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