July 12 (UPI) -- Thousands of people lined the streets of Tokyo on Tuesday to pay their final respects to Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister who was shot dead last week in broad daylight while giving a campaign speech.
Family and friends attended the private funeral for Abe at Zojoji Temple from where a hearse transported his body through Tokyo's political center of Nagatacho and passed the prime minister's office as crowds looked on, NHK reported.
During the funeral, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso gave a memorial address in which he spoke fondly of the times he and Abe would drink and play golf.
"You were supposed to be the one giving the memorial address at my funeral," he said, according to The Washington Post.
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Abe was gunned down Friday at the Kintetsu Railway in western Japan's Nara, located about 235 miles southwest of Tokyo, while giving a campaign speech for a Liberal Democratic Party candidate.
The former prime minister was shot in the back with what authorities have described as a homemade gun. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead several hours later. The cause of death was excess bleeding. He was 67 years old.
Police have arrested 41-year-old Yamagami Tetsuya for the crime, which continues to be investigated.
Abe's brother Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi issued a statement in remembrance on Tuesday.
"I lost my brother but at the same time Japan lost an irreplaceable leader," he said. "My brother loved Japan and he risked his life on politics to protect this country.
"Thank you for your hard work."
On Monday, the government of Japan posthumously awarded Abe it highest honor, the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum.
A wake for Abe was also held that day, which U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is in Japan for a visit, attended.
"Today in Tokyo, I had the honor of paying my respect to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo," she said.
"Abe was a visionary leader for Japan and for the world," she tweeted. "His legacy will live in a more prosperous Japan and a stronger partnership between our two countries."
Abe, who comes from a political dynasty, served as Japan's prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He resigned due to a relapse of a bowel disease, which also ended his first term in office.
