Abe will meet former U.S. President Obama on Sunday, Japanese government says

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet with former U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday over lunch in Tokyo, the Japanese government said Thursday.

“There is no special meaning” in the meeting, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a news conference, stressing it is aimed at “renewing friendship.” Obama was in office between 2009 and 2017.

The former U.S. president will come to Japan after visiting Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. In Tokyo, he will attend an international forum to be hosted by a private organization.

In 2016, Obama — who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his stated intention to seek a world without nuclear weapons — became the first incumbent U.S. leader to visit Hiroshima, which was devastated by the first U.S. atomic bombing late in World War II.

Obama and Abe also visited Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor in a show of reconciliation between the two former wartime foes.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

LATEST NATIONAL STORIES

Japan distancing itself from U.S. claims of Iranian involvement in tanker attacks

The government is avoiding taking sides in the dispute surrounding U.S. claims of Iranian involvement in Thursday's attacks on two oil tankers, including one operated by a Japanese company, near...

Japan, France to unveil road map for cooperation amid China's rise

Japan and France are planning to unveil a five-year road map in late June that deepens cooperation in areas ranging from maritime security to infrastructure assistance amid China's growing influenc...

Abe to promote space debris measures at G20

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that his government wants to promote Japan's proposals on measures against space debris at international venues such as Group of 20 meetings. The pr...