According to the message posted on Abe’s Facebook page, the first lady of Japan, Akie Abe, has paid a visit to the US Pearl Harbor to pay tribute to those that fell victim to the attack by Japan nearly 75 years ago.
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Akie Abe said in a Facebook entry Monday that she laid flowers and prayed at the USS Arizona Memorial.
Her visit to the Hawaii memorial came just months after President Barack Obama journeyed to Hiroshima, the Japanese city where a U.S. plane dropped the world’s first atom bomb in the closing days of World War II.
In one of several photos also posted on Facebook, Ms Abe posed with an American veteran who survived the attack. Although the White House has said it would welcome the visit, Shinzo Abe said in May there were no plans at that point to make the trip.
Akie Abe made the two-hour visit Sunday while her husband attended the Summer Olympic closing ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro. He declined to comment further, saying it was a private visit.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) and his wife Akie Abe in a file image.
The first lady told the Gendai Ismedia online news service online news service after the visit that she hopes for continuing peace in her home country.
The first lady visited the site at 7:55 a.m., the exact time that the attack took place in 1941, according to Gendai Ismedia. President Barack Obama paid tribute in May to the victims of the USA atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Some critics see Akie Abe acting as a counterbalance to her conservative husband, serving as a kind of opposition camp within the Abe household.
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Days after the bonding session, the first lady made a surprise visit to Takae, Okinawa Prefecture, with Miyake, where the government has resumed helipad construction amid fierce protests. Political leaders who visit the shrine typically are the subject of intense criticism from China and South Korea.
