Nara: Many people mourned for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday at the spot where he was shot to death in July.

They expressed condolences, such as by laying flowers, at the site near Kintetsu Railway Co.’s Yamato-Saidaiji Station in the city of Nara, western Japan, to coincide with the day’s state funeral for Abe in Tokyo.

“Abe was a prime minister since I was a junior high school student,” a 21-year-old university student from Nara said and offered a silent prayer. “I came here to express my sympathy.”

He also said he has a picture of Abe and him, taken in June, when the late former prime minister came to Nara for a stump speech.

Abe was a “powerful and gentle politician,” he said, stressing that such a terror attack should never happen again.

A 60-year-old self-employed woman from Kyoto, north of Nara, visited the site with a bunch of flowers.

“Abe was the one who improved Japan’s status,” she said. “I really liked his friendly personality.”

A 23-year-old unemployed man from nearby Osaka Prefecture said: “I think (Abe) regrets that he died before achieving his goals. I hope he will rest in peace.”

JIJI Press