> I imagine that "I support assassination to drive change" would be even less popular.

Except for in Japan? I noticed in all those reports Japan was at or near the bottom of countries measured for trust in their government. I was never able to find polling with regard to sentiment on Shinzo Abe's assassination but the majority of the country opposed the state funeral for him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Shinzo_Abe#Re...

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lmm 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

Opposing his state funeral is very different from supporting his assassination.

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soraminazuki 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Sure he was a right wing divisive figure and I'm not saying that wasn't a factor, but opposition to the state funeral had more to do with the use of taxpayer money IMO.

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PaulHoule 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

It was more than that. A remarkable number of Japanese came to the conclusion that the shooter was right about the relationship between the ruling party and the Moonies.

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vkou 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

His public image took a nosedive after his death.

I think that had far more to do with it than saving a few yen.

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soraminazuki 5 days ago | parent [-]

I know, but there would've been opposition to a state funeral regardless. The Japanese public perceived the state funeral and the decision-making process behind it as corrupt.

Here's a Japanese article from when the decision was made. Note that the scandal leading to his assassination, which was a significant issue in its own right, isn't even mentioned. That's because the decision to hold a state funeral was itself very scandalous.

https://www.nhk.or.jp/politics/articles/feature/89302.html

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soraminazuki 4 days ago | parent [-]

Also the cost of the funeral was 1.6 billion yen, which is definitely not "a few yen." It's crazy to think that taxpayers would be just fine with that.

https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/20220921-OYT1T50164/

	▲	gsf_emergency_2 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		I put it down to the diverging opinion between gov and people on the effectiveness of Abe's policies (Abenomics, defense, etc)