A man set himself on fire on Wednesday, September 21, near the Kantei, the complex housing the residence and office of the Japanese Prime Minister in Tokyo. “We have been informed that a man with burns was found by a police officer at 7am this morning at a junction” near the Kantei, the government spokesman said. “The details are currently being examined by the police”, he added. Several local media report that the man was hospitalized in an unconscious state.
The Kyodo News Agency (link in English) and another Japanese outlet, TV Asahi, say the man wanted to protest former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s state funeral, scheduled for September 27. A personality as emblematic as it is controversial of the nationalist right in Japan, the head of government had left power in 2020 for health reasons. He was shot dead in the middle of the street on July 8, while he was taking part in a rally in Nara.
This assassination caused great emotion in Japan and around the world. But Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision to hold a state funeral for Shinzo Abe has drawn criticism from part of the public. State funerals for politicians are very rare in Japan, the last ceremony of this magnitude for a Prime Minister dating back to 1967. The cost to the taxpayer of the funeral of Shinzo Abe, in the presence of hundreds of foreign dignitaries, was quantified by the government to 1.7 billion yen (12 million euros).
