Is there such a thing as a ‘real’ state funeral?

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II passed away on Sept. 8 and her state funeral is scheduled to take place on Monday.

Following the news of her death, the phrase "real state funeral" has been “trending” on Japanese social media. They say the queen’s funeral in the United Kingdom is the "real" state funeral and the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, scheduled to be held on Sept. 27, is "not real."

Typical tweets in Japanese say something to the effect of: "The real state funeral is in the U.K., which the whole world mourns, in contrast to the state funeral-style ceremony in Japan, which is being forced to go ahead despite the opposition from many citizens," or "I definitely do not want to participate in the state funeral that the current Japanese government is trying to force through.”