Shinzo Abe state funeral plan divides Japan as Diet convenes

PM Kishida faces strong pushback heading into short parliamentary session

A motorcade carrying the body of slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passes the Diet in Tokyo on July 12. A plan to hold a state funeral for Abe in September has proved controversial. © Reuters

KENTARO IWAMOTO, Nikkei staff wrtier

August 3, 2022 13:30 JST

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faces growing controversy over his plan to hold a state funeral for assassinated former leader Shinzo Abe, as a brief session of the legislature opens on Wednesday.

The Diet is scheduled to sit for three days, mainly to choose a president and vice president for the upper house after the July 10 election won by Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition.