The Government of Japan announced Thursday that it will hold a state funeral in the spring for the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to remember the former leader’s “great successes” during his years “serving the country.”

Abe’s state funeral will be the second to be held in Japan since World War II after that of Shigeru Yoshida, who was prime minister twice, between 1946 and 1947 and between 1948 and 1954.

The current head of the Japanese government, Fumio Kishida, said during a press conference that Abe showed “great leadership”, especially in the diplomatic field, while “rebuilding Japan from the 2011 earthquake”.

Sources close to the government have indicated that the authorities have consulted the idea with his relatives and other people close to Abe after he was assassinated on Friday during a campaign rally in the city of Nara.

Some countries have already expressed their intention to send delegations to the state funeral. Kishida, for his part, hopes to use the opportunity to push his policy for an open and free Indo-Pacific region.