After ex-Prirme Minister Shinzo Abe shot down to death by Tetsuya Yamagami, Prime Minister Kishida propmtly declared that he would hold a state funeral for Shinzo Abe.  It was a cabinet decision, without any discussion on the Diet or any legal basis for having the funeral. First upon the sad news, most of the Japanese people were sympathetic about the sudeen death of Abe. Before long, it revealed that Mr. Abe was targeted by Tetsuya Yamagami because Mr. Abe had been  supportive for the Family Federation, former Unification Church, which has bee notorious for the wrong doings and recognized as a cult, and Yamagami’s mother became a follower of the Family Federation and devoted all the property to the cult.

On the Internet, twitter hash tag #国葬反対 (it means Opposition to the state funeral) is spreading.

The tweet below shows a demo at Shinjuku station to oppose to having the state funeralfor late Shinzo Abe.

27日18時頃新宿西口。国葬反対デモ。奈良が撮影しました。 pic.twitter.com/Q1ufaQ673T

— 奈良巧 (@naratakumi) August 27, 2022

The tweet below is a news paper article that reports demos were held at Shinjuku station and other sites in Tokyo.

安倍晋三氏国葬反対デモ
まだまだ続くね#国葬は憲法違反 #安倍晋三さんの葬儀は統一教会葬で pic.twitter.com/0ohpYjFGKH

— プリティsachi 永田町の野良犬 (@fish_dub) August 16, 2022

Actually, polls by many different media sources all showed that majority of Japanese people are opposing to the Abe’s state funeral as the tweet below shows.

*「#国葬反対 の声、日本全国に広がる」

… 月刊 Hanada を除く、すべての世論調査で、国葬反対が賛成を圧倒。 pic.twitter.com/4LMyJjkCPF

— Hiroshi Matsuura (@HiroshiMatsuur2) August 26, 2022

I was born in Showa era, and experienced Heisei era and now entering the new era Reiwa starting this April. This is a big deal for all Japanese because we officially present the year in our own Japanese name, like the year  Heisei 31  or the year Show 20. The name for each era represents the period of each Emperor’s time. Traditionally, the era ends when the Emperor passes away. This time it  is an exception. The Heisei Emperor yeiled its title to his son while still living.