Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed that he will make a historic visit to Hawaii's Pearl Harbor before the year's end, CNN reported.
Abe's arrival in late December is significant in that it will mark the first time since the end of World War II that a Japanese leader has visited the site of the December 7, 1941 attack that killed more than 2,000 Americans. Abe won't be alone, though. "I will visit Pearl Harbor with President Obama," he said. "This will be a visit to soothe the souls of the victims. We should never repeat the ravages of the war."
The announcement comes on the heels of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima earlier this year in which he became the first sitting president to do so.
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Tokyo-based Asia Strategy Founder Keith Henry told CNN that Abe's visit will be "enormous."
"It's quite significant - like so many things in any nation's past, a recognition of (its) occurrence is the first step in terms of creating something new to ensure it never happens again," Henry told CNN. "The security of both countries is very much tied together, because Asia is a very different place to 20 years ago."
Wednesday signals the 75-year anniversary of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Located just west of Honolulu, the site has become one of Hawaii's premier attractions and is home to the USS Arizona Memorial.
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