No preferential treatment was given to the Japanese company that won the bid to put on former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's state funeral, the government's top spokesman said Monday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno added that the Tokyo-based event organizer Murayama Inc. — which has been involved in some controversial government-sponsored events — was the only firm to participate in the tender for the Sept. 27 state funeral. Abe was fatally shot by a lone gunman during an election campaign speech in early July.
Murayama has been criticized by the opposition bloc after it was revealed that the company had had meetings in the past with the Cabinet Office before the bidding process to host annual cherry blossom viewing parties held by Abe while he was in office.