Japan decides to hold ex-PM Abe's state funeral on Sept 27 -source

A mourner offers flowers next to a picture of late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election, on the day to mark a week after his assassination at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters, in Tokyo, Japan July 15, 2022. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The Japanese government decided on Friday to hold the state funeral planned for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sept. 27, a person who was at the cabinet meeting to confirm the plan told Reuters.

Abe, who was the country's longest-serving premier and remained influential in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was shot to death by an assailant two weeks ago at a pre-election campaign rally.

The funeral will be held at the Nippon Budokan, an arena originally built for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games that has since been a popular venue for sports events and concerts. It is also the site for a memorial service for World War Two dead held every year on Aug. 15.

(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim)