Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings on Japan and war veterans gave mixed reactions to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's announcement Monday that he will visit Pearl Harbor, which Japan attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, bringing the United States into WWII.
"More than 70 years have passed (since the end of the war) and it seems to be too late," said Sunao Tsuboi, a 91-year-old influential atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima, a city devastated by a U.S. nuclear attack. But he also said the move can be seen as "future-minded," noting that both countries lost people in the war.
Shigeaki Mori, 79, another atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima, praised the planned visit. "It's wonderful. I want the two leaders to pledge never to fight a war at the place where the war between the two countries started," he said.