Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY

A7
U.S. NEWS Tuesday 27 december 2016
Japanese prime minister lays

wreaths at Hawaii cemeteries

The Associated Press ernment spokesman said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii earlier this month. Chief Abe visits the National Memo-
(AP) — Japanese Prime Cabinet Secretary Yoshi- rial Cemetery of the Pacific to
place a wreath at the Honolulu
Minister Shinzo Abe laid hide Suga said that “the Memorial, Monday, Dec. 26,
wreaths at various ceme- purpose of the upcoming 2016, in Honolulu. He stood for
teries and memorials Mon- visit is to pay respects for a moment of silence after the
day ahead of a visit to the the war dead and not to wreath laying.
site of the 1941 bombing offer an apology.” q Associated Press
that plunged the United
States into World War II.
Abe landed at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam and
then headed to National
Memorial Cemetery of
the Pacific, where he laid
a wreath. He stood for a
moment of silence at the
cemetery near downtown
Honolulu, which is known
as Punchbowl. He later vis-
ited a nearby memorial for
nine boys and men who
died when a U.S. Navy sub-
marine collided with their
Japanese fishing vessel in
2001. At the Ehime Maru
Memorial, he again laid
a wreath and bowed his
head. On Tuesday, he’ll
be the first Japanese prime
minister to visit the memo-
rial that honors sailors and
Marines killed in the attack
on Pearl Harbor. Japan’s
former leader Shigeru Yo-
shida went to Pearl Harbor
six years after the country’s
World War II surrender, but
that was before the USS Ar-
izona Memorial was built.
Yoshida arrived at Pearl
Harbor in 1951, shortly after
requesting a courtesy visit
to the office of Adm. Arthur
W.R. Radford, commander
of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The
office overlooked Pearl
Harbor, offering a direct
view of the attack site.
The memorial will be
closed to the public Tues-
day when Abe visits the
historic site, joined by U.S.
President Barack Obama,
who is vacationing in Ha-
waii with his family.
The importance of the visit
may be mostly symbolic for
two countries that, in a re-
markable transformation,
have grown into close al-
lies in the decades since
they faced off in brutal
conflict. At the same time,
it’s significant that it took
more than 70 years for U.S.-
Japanese relations to get
to this point. Abe won’t
apologize for Japan’s at-
tack when he visits, a gov-