A funeral service for former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone took place at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo on Saturday, with thorough safety measures in place to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Nakasone died on Nov. 29, 2019, aged 101.
The service, which was jointly held by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and the Liberal Democratic Party, was originally scheduled for March 15 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Attendees had their temperature checked with a thermographic camera at the entrance of the venue, and were seated about one meter apart during the service. Also, flower offerings were divided into groups to avoid crowding in the venue.
A video recounting Nakasone's accomplishments that was shown at the ceremony included an encounter between Nakasone and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, calling each other by their first names, "Ron" and "Yasu," which is unusual in Japanese politics.
The former prime minister's eldest son, Hirofumi Nakasone, who is an LDP House of Councillors member, served as the chief mourner at the service, while his grandson, Yasutaka, an LDP House of Representatives member, carried his remains.
The government, which is covering half the cost of the funeral service, expected to contribute about 96 million yen, but the number of attendees was far below the about 1,400 people who were expected to attend. Poor weather was partly blamed for the low turnout.
"[The expenditure is] certain to be less than 96 million yen," a Cabinet Office official said.
In 2006, the government spent 77.02 million yen on a funeral service for former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and 76.96 million yen for former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa in 2007.
"From an international standpoint, the cost of Mr. Nakasone's funeral isn't high," said Kanto Gakuin University Prof. Naotaka Kimizuka, who specializes in international political history.
"Mr. Nakasone's funeral was modest compared to the funerals of former British Prime Minister Thatcher and former [U.S.] President Reagan, both of whom were active in the same era."
Opposition camp members in attendance included the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano and Democratic Party for the People President Yuichiro Tamaki. Japanese Communist Party Chairperson Kazuo Shii and Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima did not attend.
Shii was against a request issued by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry to national universities and other institutions to fly flags during the funeral service to honor the late statesman.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
