Japan honors ex-PM Abe with highest decoration, wake held in Tokyo

TOKYO, July 11 Kyodo - The Japanese government on Monday honored former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was gunned down Friday in the western city of Nara, with the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, the nation's highest decoration. A wake was held later Monday for Abe, the longest-serving leader, at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other lawmakers attending. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is on a visit to Japan, also attended the ceremony, a Treasury official said. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako sent flowers and dispatched a chamberlain to burn incense at the wake, according to Kenji Ikeda, vice grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency. A total of about 2,500 people, including members of the public, attended the wake, according to the Liberal Democratic Party faction headed by Abe. Among those seen at the wake were prominent business leaders and ambassadors, including U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin. Abe is the fourth former prime minister to receive the decoration under the postwar Constitution, after Shigeru Yoshida, Eisaku Sato and Yasuhiro Nakasone, and has additionally been honored with the Junior First Rank of Court, the Cabinet Office said. Ikeda said at a press conference that he suspects the imperial couple may be feeling extremely sorry and heartbroken about Abe's death, and concerned about the bereaved family. Abe was in office when the emperor ascended the throne in 2019 following his father Emperor Akihito's abdication. The Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum is made from pure gold and is worn by the Japanese emperor. It has been awarded to several visiting foreign heads of state in the past. Abe's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the Tokyo temple. Separate memorial services will later be held in Tokyo and Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan, where Abe had a constituency. Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said he is considering attending a funeral for his one-time Japanese counterpart. Trump told the U.S. online news site Breitbart that he was in talks with the Abe family about the visit, adding the former prime minister was the first foreign leader to meet him after he won the U.S. presidential election in 2016. "He came right after the election -- he was the first person I saw" as president-elect, Trump said, according to Breitbart. "But we had a special relationship. We're going to see about that, we're talking about that right now." Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that at the request of Kishida, the Japanese flag will be flown at half-mast for Abe until Tuesday at the prime minister's office in Tokyo. ==Kyodo