Japan honours assassinated Abe at controversial funeral

Thousands of Japanese and foreign dignitaries gather in Tokyo to honour assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe, at a rare state funeral that has sparked controversy and protest.

Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister and one of the country's most recognisable political figures, known for cultivating international alliances and his "Abenomics" economic strategy.

He resigned in 2020 over recurring health problems, but remained a key political voice and was campaigning for his ruling party when a lone gunman killed him on July 8.

The shooting sent shockwaves through a country with famously low gun crime and prompted international condemnation.

But the decision to give him a state funeral -- only the second for a former premier in the post-war period -- has provoked growing opposition, with around 60 percent of Japanese against the event in recent polls.

Abe's accused killer targeted the former leader believing he had ties to the Unification Church, which he resented over massive donations his mother had made to the sect.

The assassination prompted fresh scrutiny of the church and its fundraising, and uncomfortable questions for Japan's political establishment, with the ruling party admitting around half its lawmakers had links to the religious organisation.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged the party will sever all ties with the church, but the scandal has helped fuel discontent over the state funeral.