Two more sitting Japanese prime ministers visited Pearl Harbor in the 1950s, a local newspaper in Hawaii said Thursday, providing further evidence that Shinzo Abe will not be the first to visit the World War II site during his visit to Hawaii this week.
The bilingual Hawaii Hochi newspaper posted photos of front pages reporting two Japanese leaders made official visits, adding those to the 1951 visit of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, which Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga recently confirmed.
On announcing Abe's Hawaii trip, a Foreign Ministry official said he will be the first sitting Japanese leader to visit the key wartime site, a claim that has now been proven incorrect.