White House announces delegation to attend Abe’s state funeral

By Hiroshi Tajima / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

16:52 JST, September 24, 2022

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday announced the 12-member U.S. delegation for the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The funeral will be held at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Headed by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the delegation will be joined by past U.S. ambassadors to Japan, including Caroline Kennedy.

This will be Harris’ first visit to Japan since assuming office in January last year. The delegation also will include U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, former deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and former ambassadors to Japan such as Thomas Schieffer, John Roos and Bill Hagerty.

A U.S. high-ranking official also announced that Harris plans to meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday to exchange views on Taiwan and other issues.

Harris is to meet with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday, and visit the U.S. forces’ Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Wednesday.

On Thursday, she is expected to visit Seoul to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.