Former PM Abe’s state funeral expected to cost about ¥250 mil.

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

A state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to cost about ¥250 million, it has been learned.

The government, which is arranging for about 6,400 attendees, is expected to decide on the expenditures at an upcoming Cabinet meeting.

The ceremony is scheduled to be held at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo on Sept. 27.

The state will shoulder all expenses for the national funeral including the venue fee and expenditures for temperature checks, disinfection and other measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

Former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida’s state funeral in 1967, the only precedent for a former postwar prime minister, was also held at the Nippon Budokan hall. Abe’s state funeral is expected to be held at a similar scale as that for Yoshida.

The government is making arrangements for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to attend the ceremony.

The Foreign Ministry has informed 195 countries and regions having diplomatic relations with Japan about the schedule.

Diet members and local government officials nationwide are expected to be invited to the commemoration.