July 12, 2022

Thousands of mourners are showing up to pay their last respects to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this Tuesday.

The private funeral, which is only open to friends and close family, is underway at Tokyo’s Zojoji temple.

Following the funeral, the hearse bearing Abe’s body will proceed through downtown Tokyo.

The 67-year-old was shot last Friday while delivering a campaign speech in Nara in Southern Japan.

Inside the Zojoji Temple, Buddhist rites are being carried out. Outside and across Tokyo, flags are flying at half-mast.

A funeral procession this afternoon will pass by landmarks like the parliament building, which Abe first entered as a lawmaker in 1993, and the office from which he led the nation as Prime Minister.