About 700 international guests to attend Shinzo Abe’s state funeral
Police officers stand in front of a ticket gate at JR Tokyo Station on Tuesday, a week ahead of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s state funeral. The Japan News/Asia News Network
TOKYO — About 700 guests from overseas are expected to attend former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s state funeral on Sept. 27 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, according to a government official.
More than 190 foreign delegations are expected, with around 50 led by top-level officials. In total, about 6,000 guests are expected to attend.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government had sent invitations to about 2,000 current and former lawmakers, about 300 local government officials and about 30 current and former heads of the three branches of government, including presidents of both chambers of the Diet.
Matsuno said the government had not yet confirmed a final tally for the number of international guests. “We’ll announce [the number] in a timely and appropriate manner,” he said.
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