Abe, Obama, Reconciliation, and World Peace

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (1954-2022) was the longest serving and arguably one of the most influential Japanese prime ministers in history. He will be remembered for countless contributions to remake Japan domestically and globally. Here we pay tribute and recognize one of his many actions to strengthen U.S-Japan relations and expand world peace.

In 2015 and 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and United States President Barak Obama symbolically completed the path to reconciliation between the United Stated and Japan, and affirmed their nations’ alliance and commitment to work together for world peace. Their path together included several firsts: First Japanese prime minister to address a Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress, first sitting president to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and first prime minister to visit the U.S.S. Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor.

1941 - Two Nations at War

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii was attacked by hundreds of Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service aircraft in a surprise military strike, destroying American ships and aircraft, and killing over 2,400 civilians and military personnel.

After consulting with his cabinet, Roosevelt decided to deliver an address before the joint session of the Congress the next day.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”

Thirty-three minutes after he finished speaking, Congress declared war against Japan. Within four years and after countless lives lost across the Pacific region, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare on the city of Hiroshima killing an estimated 140,000 people. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. Within weeks, Japan surrendered, ending the Pacific War.  

2015 - Prime Minister Abe addresses Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress

On April 29, 2015, Prime Minister Abe stood at the podium in front of a Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress, where Roosevelt called for war against Japan in 1941. As the first Japanese Prime Minister to address a Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress, Abe delivered his speech entitled "Toward an Alliance of Hope."

Prime Minister Abe speaks before a Joint Meeting of Congress | Photo: UPI

Prime Minister Abe proclaimed his resolve to “to take yet more responsibility for the peace and stability in the world.” As one of the most influential Japanese politicians of the post-war era, Abe was intent on trying to shape a new foreign policy course for itself after years of relative isolation on the geopolitical stage. “Enemies that fought each other so fiercely have become friends bonded in spirit,” the prime minister explained. He ended his speech by saying: “The finest asset the U.S. has to give to the world was hope, is hope, will be and must always be hope.”

For the compete text of Prime Minster Abe’s Speech, click here.

President Obama’s Visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial

On May 27, 2015, President Obama visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. "Seventy-one years ago, on a bright, cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed," President Obama said in the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to Hiroshima, Japan. “We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.‎”

President Obama and Prime Minister Abe at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan. | Photo: courtesy of the U.S. Government

Nations need the ability to defend themselves, Obama said, but countries with nuclear arsenals "must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them.” Obama went on to conclude "We are not bound ... to repeat the mistakes of the past. We can learn. We can choose.”

For the complete speeches at Hiroshima by President Obama click here and Prime Minister Abe click here.

Prime Minster Abe’s visit to Pearl Harbor

On December 27, 2016, President Obama and Prime Minister Abe presented wreaths at the USS Arizona Memorial to honor the service members killed during the Dec. 7, 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor and to affirm their nations’ alliance to work for world peace. Abe’s visit to the USS Arizona Memorial was the first visit by a Japanese prime minister.

President Obama and Prime Minister Abe at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor | Photo: courtesy of the U.S. Navy

“I offer my sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here, as well as to the spirits of all the brave men and women whose lives were taken by a war that commenced in this very place, and also to the souls of the countless innocent people who became victims of the war,” Mr. Abe said. He added, “We must never repeat the horrors of war again.”

“The United States and Japan chose friendship, and they chose peace. Over the decades, our alliances have made the nations more successful,” Obama said. “Today, the alliance between the United States and Japan, bound not only by shared interests but also rooted in common values, stands as the cornerstone of peace and civility in the Asian-Pacific and a force for progress around the globe, our alliance has never been stronger. In good times and in bad we’re there for each other.”

The White House said that the visit by the two leaders would “showcase the power of reconciliation” that turned one-time adversaries into “the closest of allies.”

Following the events at Pearl Harbor, Abe and Obama held their last bilateral meeting together and discussed security, economic and global challenges. The bilateral meeting was one of Obama’s final meetings with a world leader before leaving office on January 20, 2017.

For the complete speeches at Pearl Harbor by President Obama click here and Prime Minister Abe click here.