Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a historic speech in Pearl Harbor touting the postwar reconciliation between the U.S. and Japan on Tuesday, alongside U.S. President Barack Obama.
But reconciliation between the two countries — close military allies since the beginning of the Cold War — is nothing new, and a key message hidden in the speeches of both leaders addresses something other than World War II, according to two experts interviewed by The Japan Times.
"I think both Japan and America wanted to send a message to (President-elect Donald) Trump," Carol Gluck, professor of history at Columbia University and specialist in modern Japan studies, said in a phone interview.