VOA新闻杂志2022--日本为前首相安倍晋三举行国葬

Japan’s Former Leader Abe Honored at State Funeral

Japan honored its former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday at the country's first state funeral for a former leader in 55 years. But the high cost of the state-financed ceremony was widely criticized, and some groups protested to show their opposition¹.

The funeral started with Abe's ashes being carried into Tokyo's Nippon Budokan Hall by his widow, Akie. Then, a military band played the country's national anthem² and a moment of silence was observed.

Thousands of mourners flooded to lookout³ points near the hall early Tuesday to pay their last respects. Within hours, at least 10,000 people had placed flowers along the way, Japanese television reported.

At the funeral, a video was shown that looked back on Abe's life in politics. The video included a 2006 parliamentary speech in which he promised to build a "beautiful Japan." It also remembered his visits to disaster-hit northern Japan after the March 2011 tsunami⁴.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered a 12-minute remembrance of Abe. He praised the former prime minister as a politician with a clear vision for post-World War II economic growth. Kishida said Abe's policies centered on national security and the development of Japan, as well as his often stated goal to seek a "free and open Indo-Pacific."

"You were a person who should have lived much longer," Kishida told the crowd, while looking up at a large picture of Abe. "I had a firm belief that you would contribute as a compass showing the future direction of Japan and the rest of the world for 10 or 20 more years."

Kishida promised to try to carry on Abe's policies for Japan and the whole Asia area.

Abe was Japan's longest-serving modern political leader. He was cremated⁶ in July following a private funeral at a Tokyo temple. That ceremony came days after he was killed while giving a campaign speech in western Japan.

Tokyo was under high security for the state funeral, especially close to the hall where it took place. At a protest in downtown Tokyo, thousands of people marched toward the hall, many shouting and holding signs stating their opposition. Some demonstrators held signs declaring "No state funeral."

Protester Kaoru Mano said, "Shinzo Abe has done not a single thing for regular people."

Japan's main political opposition parties boycotted⁷ the funeral. The government has said the ceremony was not meant to force anyone to honor Abe. But the decision to give him a state funeral was made without parliamentary debate or approval. The reported cost of the ceremony was $11.5 million.

Abe's killing⁸ led to a series of new revelations about ties between lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) he once led and the Unification Church. Critics have called the church a cult⁹ that seeks to collect donations while brainwashing believers.

Media coverage¹⁰ of the party's ties to the church have led to increased criticism of the LDP's Kishida. His support ratings recently reached their lowest point ever. Kishida apologized for the ties and promised to cut party relations with the church.

Words in This Story

contribute – v. to give something, especially money, to provide or achieve something together with other people

compass – n. an instrument that shows you which direction you are going in

cremate⁵ – v. to burn a dead body

regular – adj. usual or normal

revelation – n. a piece of information that gets discovered, even though it was supposed to remain private

cult – v. a religious group whose ideas are considered strange by many people

brainwash – n. to make someone believe something by telling them it is true over and over

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

3 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 cremate   

v.火葬，烧成灰

参考例句：

• She wants Chris to be cremated.她想把克里斯的尸体火化。
• Laowang explains: "Combustion is cremate, degenerating is inhumation. "老王解释道：“燃烧就是火葬，腐朽就是土葬。”

6 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

7 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。