Japan PM's Pearl Harbor visit won't be for apology
TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor this month, the first by a Japanese leader, will not be to apologise for the Japanese attack 75 years ago that drew the United States into World War Two, Abe's top aide said on Tuesday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the purpose of Abe's Dec. 26-27 visit was to console the souls of those who died in the war.
While the lack of an apology could disappoint some U.S. war veterans, Abe hopes the visit will showcase the tight alliance between the former foes. Experts say it is a message Abe wants to send both to regional rival China and to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has criticised Tokyo as a free-rider on defence.
"This visit is for the sake of consoling the souls of those who died in the war, not for the sake of an apology," Suga told a news conference the day after Abe announced the visit.
