Comment TOKYO — Relatives of Shinzo Abe planned to gather Monday night for a private wake, traditionally held here the night before a funeral, as investigators looked into security issues and the motives of a gunman who killed the former Japanese leader three days ago. . Monday’s ‘tsuya’, a funeral ceremony, is expected to be a small event mainly for Abe’s family, held at Zojo-ji Temple in Tokyo. A private funeral is planned for Tuesday and larger ceremonies are expected at a later date in the capital and Abe’s hometown of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Plans for a state funeral have not been announced. Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken made an unscheduled stop in Tokyo on Monday to express solidarity and condolences to the Japanese people. The top US diplomat changed his itinerary after a trip to Thailand and Indonesia, where a meeting of the Group of 20 foreign ministers was rocked last week by news of the fatal shooting in Japan, where gun violence is rare. Japan is reeling after the assassination of Shinzo Abe “I am here because the United States and Japan are more than allies. we are friends. And when one friend hurts, the other friend shows up,” Blinken told reporters after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. “I’m really grateful to him for taking the time to see us through this incredibly difficult time.” Across the region, tributes are pouring in for Abe. In Taiwan, people gave messages of condolence at the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association office in Taipei, while Taiwanese flags on government buildings and public schools flew at half-mast. In Australia, the Sydney Opera House was lit up in the colors of the Japanese flag. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin visited a memorial for Abe on Monday organized by the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Other South Korean officials, including President Yoon Suk-yeol and National Security Adviser Park Sung-han, were expected to pay their respects there. The man accused of killing Abe, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami of Nara, told investigators he believed the former prime minister was linked to a religious group he blamed for his mother’s financial difficulties. Japanese media, citing police sources, later reported that Yamagami told investigators that his mother had donated money to the group. Yamagami told investigators that his mother had gone bankrupt after the donations, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, citing police sources. He said his family was torn apart by his mother’s obsession with the group and targeted Abe “out of resentment,” the paper said. Abe’s ruling coalition secures a big victory in Japan’s election after his assassination On Sunday, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which in Japan was formerly called the Japan Unification Church, confirmed that the man’s mother is a member. But he had not appeared at the recent gatherings, said the spokesman, who was reached by phone but spoke on condition of anonymity, citing privacy concerns amid the ongoing criminal investigation. The clerk had no information about the mother’s donations to the church. Police declined to name the religious organization the suspect is affiliated with. And it was not known if the mother belonged to other religious organizations. The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification is expected to hold a press conference later Monday to clarify information about the suspect’s mother, Yoko Yamagami. The police chief of Nara, where Abe was killed, on Saturday acknowledged security lapses at the political rally attended by Abe and vowed to identify and fix the flaws. Hudson reported from Bangkok.
