Funeral for Shinzo Abe Is Held in Tokyo

The funeral was held at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo. At the service inside, attended by a relatively small group of family and friends, Mr. Abe’s widow, Akie, said the sudden death of her husband was like a dream.

“As a politician, he left behind much to be done, but he planted many seeds and I believe they will come into bud,” Mrs. Abe told the mourners, according to public broadcaster NHK.

With crowds lining the streets, a car carrying Mr. Abe’s coffin drove past the places where he spent his nearly 30-year career as a lawmaker including the Parliament building and the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

It entered the grounds of the prime minister’s office where he served from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020, making him the longest-serving holder of the office in Japanese history. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other dignitaries bowed as the car drove past.

Police said the suspect, Mr. Yamagami, told investigators that he was angry at a religious group to which his mother had contributed money. Mr. Yamagami said he targeted Mr. Abe because he believed the former leader had ties to the group, police said.

On Monday, the head of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, an offshoot of a church founded in South Korea by the Rev. Moon Sun-Myung, said Mr. Yamagami’s mother joined the church in the late 1990s, made donations and regularly attended events but his mother went bankrupt in 2002.

Write to Peter Landers at peter.landers@wsj.com