(VOVWORLD) - The Japanese government on Monday announced that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been awarded the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum.
 The funeral ceremony of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe takes place at the ancient Buddhist temple Jojoji in Tokyo. (Photo: Kyodo) |
Mr. Abe was shot and killed last Friday while campaigning for candidates standing in the election for the Upper House of the Diet.
Awarded mainly to members of Japan’s royal family and to foreign royalty or heads of state, the Order of the Chrysanthemum is the highest and most exclusive award in Japan. According to the Cabinet Office, Shinzo Abe is the fourth postwar Prime Minister to be awarded the Order of the Chrysanthemum, following Shigeru Yoshida, Eisaku Sato, and Yasuhiro Nakasone.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday vowed to build on the legacy of Shinzo Abe after his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a sweeping victory in Sunday's upper house election. Kishida pledged to push forward efforts to revise Japan's pacifist constitution "as soon as possible" and to resolve the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, a goal that was pursued by Abe.