Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida visited a memorial to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center after arriving Sunday in New York, where he will attend U.N. General Assembly-related events.

Kishida laid a wreath in front of the Survivor Tree, a pear tree that survived the collapse of the WTC twin towers, at the National Sept. 11 Memorial.

"This visit made me aware that we'll have to make efforts for peace and stability as well as prosperity without forgetting the victims," Kishida told reporters.