Shinzo Abe’s costly state funeral witnesses protests

Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on the campaign trail in July, is being given his last rites on Tuesday. But former Prime Minister’s funeral has met a mass protest. The protests, which have continued for around 2 months, has become a huge problem for Japan’s current Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida.The cost of Shinzo’s state funeral is estimated to be 1.7 billion yen which is approximately 12 million dollars. The cost is angered by many Japanese residents who believe the state-funded celebration for Japan’s heavily indebted government is unfair.Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida has attempted to assuage public concerns many times since the start of the protests as the controversy undermines his proposed record defense spending increase. Kishida’s approval ratings have reached at the lowest level since he assumed office in October.Tokyo remained under maximum security on Tuesday, expecting protests opposing the state funeral. Last week, a man apparently set himself on fire near the office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida protesting against the state funeral.