Former US president Donald Trump has also expressed an interest in attending. Abe struck up a close relationship with Trump soon after the 45th US president was elected, building a personal rapport ahead of other global leaders. But the Japanese foreign ministry did not invite specific individuals, and it is uncertain whether US president Joe Biden will sign off on Trump’ attendance.
The ministry notified 195 countries and four regions including Taiwan, as well as around 80 international organisations, of the date of the funeral. It expects up to three representatives from each country or region and two from each organisation.
It did not set any restrictions on who can attend, though most who have confirmed so far are national leaders or cabinet-level officials, the ministry said. Each country will pay the travel costs for their own representatives.
Others expected on the roster include former US president Barack Obama, former German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron, who worked closely with Abe during his tenure. South Korea plans to send Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
Russia said President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral. Putin faces a de facto entry ban to Japan over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Focus is on who will attend from China and Taiwan, given growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Foreign dignitaries attending the funeral will be exempt from Japan’s daily cap on arrivals from overseas of 20,000. The Japanese government plans to draw up a final guest list by early September.
Japan sees the funeral as an opportunity to bolster diplomatic ties. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Harris are expected to discuss Abe’s campaign for a free and open Indo-Pacific and ways to bolster the Japan-US alliance.
The Japanese government will shoulder the entire cost for Abe’s funeral, which will be set as early as this month. The Cabinet Office said it is looking at the joint service it held with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, which cost nearly ¥200 million (US$1.49 million at current rates), as “a reference point.”
Japan has only held one state funeral for a former prime minister since World War II, for Shigeru Yoshida in 1967. Most others received a joint Cabinet Office and LDP service like Nakasone.
More than 80 countries and regions sent representatives to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi’s funeral when he died while in office in 2000. Obuchi’s successor, Yoshiro Mori, met with then-US president Bill Clinton and then-South Korean president Kim Dae-jung on the sidelines of the service.
Outside of Japan, Harris, Macron and British prime minister Boris Johnson visited the UAE after its president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, died in May. Around 140 leaders including Obama went to former South African president Nelson Mandela’s state funeral in 2013. Then-Crown Prince Naruhito attended from Japan.
“It’s appropriate for Japan as a nation to mourn” Abe, Kishida told reporters this month, explaining the decision for a state funeral. But some opposition parties oppose the idea, which they see as forcing the public to honor the former leader’s politics.