A sombre Japan, with prayers, flowers and flags draped in black ribbons bid farewell to their longest-serving premier Shinzo Abe. Abe was shot on Friday while campaigning in Tokyo and died later in the day of excessive bleeding. People from pavements clapped, waved and shouted as the hearse carrying Abe departed from the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo in early afternoon.
Abe's death at the hands of an unemployed man wielding a handmade gun stunned Japan, where both gun crime and political violence are extremely rare. Hundreds had visited the temple to pay respects to the former prime minister who died at age 67.
The funeral procession is set to pass through important landmarks around Tokyo like the parliament building Abe first entered as a young lawmaker in 1993 and the office from which he led the nation in two stints as prime minister.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a brief stop to pay respects to Abe and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Taiwan Vice President William Lai also visited to pay respects.
Abe's death has drawn condolences from leaders around the world including US President Joe Biden, India's Narendra Modi France's Emmanuel Macron and Queen Elizabeth II.
