Some 6,000 mourners, including dignitaries from more than 100 countries, paid their final respects Thursday to the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi at an official funeral at Nippon Budokan hall in central Tokyo.

In his eulogy, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori praised his predecessor for his devotion to the people of Japan.

"No one was more concerned than (Obuchi) with the present and future condition of our nation as we approached the tumultuous turn of the century," Mori said. "It was he who staked his very life on steering this nation, caught in a vortex of tribulations, to safety."