The government pledged Thursday to discuss the conditions and rules for holding a state funeral after public opinion was divided over the ceremony held for slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September.
The decision came after the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida released a collection of opinions from 21 experts, including scholars of law, politics and diplomacy, on Abe's funeral.
"We will consider what steps we should take, such as communications with parliament, to get a wide-ranging understanding of the public," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the top government spokesman, told a news conference.