Abe Pearl Harbor Visit Symbolizes Reconciliation

Tomorrow will mark the 75th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Above, the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be visiting Pearl Harbor later this month as a gesture of "reconciliation" between the two countries.

According to the Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun):

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s planned visit to Pearl Harbor later this month is based on his decision to demonstrate a mature and future-oriented Japan-U.S. alliance to the world. The prime minister announced Monday night that he will visit Hawaii on Dec. 26 and 27, and visit Pearl Harbor with U.S. President Barack Obama during the Hawaii stay. 

The visit with Obama — following the U.S. president’s visit to Hiroshima in May — will be a historic event to symbolize Japan-U.S. reconciliation, as the leaders of the two countries that fought fiercely against each other in World War II will have paid their respects to victims of the war on those occasions. 

“I have long thought of demonstrating the significance and symbolism of visiting Pearl Harbor and the importance of reconciliation,” Abe told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday night. 

The prime minister said he has had the idea of visiting Pearl Harbor for a long time, and started specific planning last year.

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