The man, who has not been named, was initially unconscious and suffered burns all over his body after the incident in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, less than a week before the controversial ouster of Abe, who was shot dead in July. Opposition to the Sept. 27 state funeral has grown since Abe’s death sparked revelations about the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s ties to the Unification Church, whose members are commonly known as Munis. According to media reports, the protester, who is in his 70s, regained consciousness and told police he had doused himself with oil before setting it on fire. A note saying he was “strongly opposed” to the funeral was found near the scene. Kyodo news agency and other media reported that police were called to the scene around 7 a.m. after reports that someone was “engulfed in flames.” According to the media, a police officer who put out the flames was also injured. Tetsuya Yamagami, who is suspected of shooting Abe dead on July 8 with an improvised weapon, reportedly told investigators he had targeted the politician because of his ties to the Unification Church. Yamagami said his family was plunged into poverty 20 years ago when his mother, a church member, donated large sums of money to the organization. Abe was not a member of the church, but sent a congratulatory video message at an affiliate event last year. A recent ruling party survey of its 379 MPs found that nearly half had some form of interaction with the Unification church. The church, founded in South Korea in 1954 by self-proclaimed messiah Sun Myung Moon, was encouraged to establish a presence in Japan by Abe’s grandfather and postwar prime minister, Nobusuke Kishi, as a counter to communism and unionism. The organisation, known for its mass weddings, has been accused of pressuring worshipers to make donations they cannot afford – claims it has denied. Revelations of ties between Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers and the church have dominated the domestic news agenda for weeks and hardened opposition to using taxpayer money to pay for Abe’s funeral. The scandal has also hurt Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced his support for a state funeral within days of Abe’s death. A Mainichi Shimbun poll conducted over the weekend put support for Kishida at 29 percent, down six percentage points from late August. Earlier this month, the government said the service at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo would cost at least ¥1.7 billion ($12 million), with most of the money going to a massive security operation. A Kyodo news agency poll published on Sunday found that 60.8 percent opposed the ceremony, while 38.5 percent expressed support. More than 75% said the government spent “too much” on the funeral. US Vice President Kamala Harris and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are expected to be abroad. In total, around 6,000 people are expected to attend. However, many current and former leaders will not be present, including Barack Obama, who in 2016 accompanied Abe when he became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima. The man who set himself on fire Wednesday is not the first to use self-immolation at a protest linked to Abe, a conservative whose legacy has inspired warm tributes and fierce criticism. In 2014, two men set themselves on fire in separate incidents to protest the planned introduction of security laws that critics said marked a reckless departure from Japan’s postwar pacifism. One of the men died. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, stepped down in 2020 citing ill health but remained influential until he was shot and killed while giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. With Reuters
