A private funeral for former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita was held Wednesday afternoon at Tsukiji-Honganji Temple in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, with many politicians in attendance.

Liberal Democratic Party candidates in Sunday's general election, however, were few in number as the party leadership ordered them to give their campaigns priority, LDP officials said.

Three former prime ministers attended the ceremony — current Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, Yasuhiro Nakasone and Toshiki Kaifu.

Education Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka were also among the mourners.

Liberal Party chief Ichiro Ozawa and Kozo Watanabe, former vice speaker of the House of Representatives, also attended. The two used to belong to the now-defunct Takeshita faction of the LDP.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori did not attend because he was campaigning.

The government and the LDP are planning to hold an official funeral for Takeshita following the July 21-23 Group of Eight summit. Takeshita died Monday at age 76.