Tokyo: A memorial gathering marking one year since the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held in Tokyo on Saturday, with current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressing his resolve to inherit Abe’s will.

Touching on constitutional amendments, stable Imperial succession and the resolution of the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, Kishida said he “will continue sowing seeds for the future and boldly carve out a new era.”

He praised Abe’s achievement of enacting national security legislation allowing Japan to exercise its collective self-defense right, saying that the legislation is “more and more important amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Kishida recalled Abe telling him “to keep following the path that you believe,” adding, “When I worry about something, I remember the advice, which gently encourages me.”

Abe’s wife, Akie, commended her husband, saying that he made strenuous efforts and always listened to her stories.

The gathering, held at Meiji Kinenkan in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, was hosted by a conservative private organization.

Earlier on Saturday, a Buddhist memorial service for Abe, who was shot to death, was held at the Zojoji temple, also in Minato Ward.

The service was attended by Akie and other bereaved relatives, as well as political figures including Kishida, Taro Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, former Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga, Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi, and Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of Komeito, the coalition partner of the LDP. Also present were leaders from the business circle.

The ceremony was organized by the LDP, the LDP faction previously headed by Abe and the Abe family, and attendees offered prayers for the deceased, whose total tenure of eight years and eight months as prime minister was the longest in the history of Japan’s constitutional government.

The start of floral tributes from members of the general public at the temple was moved up from the initially scheduled 1 p.m., with throngs of people visiting the temple to remember Abe. About 5,000 people laid flowers for the former prime minister, according to the LDP.

Flowers were also offered at Abe’s former office in the city of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, and at the site in western the city of Nara where he was shot.

Abe served as prime minister between September 2006 and September 2007, and from December 2012 to September 2020. He remained influential after ending his second tenure.

On July 8, 2022, Abe was shot while delivering a stump speech for a House of Councillors election in Nara and confirmed dead later that day.

The incident led to the revelation of LDP lawmakers’ close connections with the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church. The suspected shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators after the attack that he had a personal grudge against the religious group and that he believed Abe had ties with the organization, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Abe’s state funeral, held last September, divided public opinion, with some criticizing the lack of legal grounds in the government holding such an event.

JIJI Press