The government officially decided Friday to hold a state funeral for slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan on Sept. 27, despite opposition figures questioning the need for the ceremony, with some outright opposing it.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a news conference after the Cabinet decision that a secretariat was set up in the Cabinet Office to prepare for the event, which will include the attendance of foreign dignitaries.
It will be only the second state funeral held for a former prime minister in postwar Japan.