- Sunday, May 05, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
While the actual money spent on the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in Britain has not been disclosed, one report has said that the reported figure of £8 million or 1.3b billion yen used up in the royal funeral is less than the estimated cost of the funeral of former Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe who was assassinated in Nara during a campaign speech in July — 1.66 billion yen.
Abe’s funeral will be held on Tuesday (27), eight days after that of the queen who passed away on September 8.
According to a report in BBC, many believe that the actual expenditure will be much higher, citing the example of sporting events such as the Tokyo Olympics which consumed $13 billion — double than what was originally estimated.
There are also questions about whether the difference in the expenses between the funerals of the queen and Abe is down to companies that serve as middlemen when the east Asian nation plays host to mega events, the report added.
Eyebrows were raised when Tokyo’s event organiser Murayama was named as the only bidder and it won a contract worth 176 million yen for the state funeral since it was the same firm that the late prime minister used to organise an annual event where he was accused of cronyism.
A recent poll by a Kyodo news agency found more than 70 per cent of people surveyed saying that the government was spending too much on Abe’s funeral. While about half the money is expected to be spent after the security, one third will be meant for hosting foreign visitors.
Foreign dignitaries have already started reaching Japan for the funeral and met Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida. The three-day event has also been called “funeral diplomacy”, the BBC report said.
Seven hundred guests from 217 nations will be present for the event, including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi; Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and US vice president Kamala Harris.
Abe is only the second Japanese prime minister to get a state funeral after Shigeru Yoshida who received one in 1967.
Some local media outlets even said that Yoshida’s funeral cost 18 million yen, which today is equivalent to 70 million yen.
