TOKYO, July 20, 2022—National honors had been rarely bestowed even to world-renowned Japanese with outstanding accomplishments in Japan – save twice a year decorations – until the 1980s, when lawmakers began abusing them for political gains. The state funeral for the late prime minister, Shinzo Abe, scheduled for Sept. 27 as the second time in the post-war period epitomizes the degradation of Japan’s national dignity.
Typically, the state funeral is observed for a person of great achievements posthumously, which was how it was held for Shigeru Yoshida, a bureaucrat-turned prime minister as the first one in post-war Japan. Lawmakers spent months in evaluating Yoshida’s accomplishments both at home and in foreign affairs before reaching decisions for the state funeral.
Almost in contrast, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hastened his decision, announcing the state funeral for Abe at a July 14 news conference, less thank a week after Abe was gunned down – presumably only because Abe was assassinated and for Kishida’s political benefits, such as hosting foreign dignitaries.
What Abe had done for Japan and globally is still being analyzed by parties concerned – lawmakers, critics, commentators, and most importantly, the general public – and the late Japanese leader is full of controversial deeds and remarks. But Kishida went ahead anyway.
Abe’s state funeral is not the only development that amounts to cheap-selling Japan’s national honors, such as the designation of artists, actors, as ‘Living Treasures (formerly the Intangible Cultural Asset)’, and the bestowing of the National Honor Award to athletes, musicians and others.
The fixed budget limits the Culture Agency’s designation of Living Treasures at less than 200, though the agency’s bureaucrats make sure to issue designations to the budget’s limit to make sure that the budget will not be trimmed.
The National Honor Award’s awarding decision is made primarily by the prime minister. After the mid-1980s, awarding began accelerating almost becoming an annual ritual, with Abe giving out as many as seven, a record number since the honor system began in 1977. Abe gave out the award to recipients that were seen by the public as not qualified for various reasons, contributing enormously to the degradation of the honor.
But criticizing Abe alone is discriminating: Another Japanese honor, the spring and autumn decorations, is even more badly abused. Every other season, hundreds of recipients are given chrysanthemum medals – most Japanese but some non-Japanese too – for little or no active reasons, except that many of them were former government officials. One person who received a medal about 10 years ago was a Metropolitan Police Department retiree who work up the MPD ladder as a police lieutenant with no specific accomplishment.
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