TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2022) Russia will be represented by the presidential cultural cooperation envoy at the state funeral of assassinated former Japanene Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as stated in a guest list released by Japan's foreign ministry on Thursday.
Mikhail Shvydkoy, who will travel to Tokyo for the funeral to be held on September 27, is Special Representative of the Russian President on International Cultural Cooperation and holds the rank of Ambassador-at-Large.
About 6,000 officials are expected at the state ceremony, including heads of state such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
It is only the second time since 1945 that a state funeral has been held in the country for someone who was not a member of the imperial family, and the rare honor has caused controversy there. The Japanese media has reported that some opposition parties have refused to attend, because of the way it was decided, while a man in his 70s is said to have set himself on fire in an apparent protest against the state funeral.
Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime-minister, was in power from 2006-2007 and from 2012-2020. He was mortally wounded by shots fired by a 41-year-old man while giving a campaign speech for a colleague in the city of Nara on July 8. The politician was cremated and had a funeral at a buddhist temple a few days later.
