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Japan's Prime Minister to Visit Pearl Harbor with Obama

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Barack Obama are meeting on Tuesday at Pearl Harbor to honor those who died 75 years ago after Japan's attack on Hawaii, according to a report from CNN

"The two leaders' visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies united by common interests and shared values," the White House said in a statement. 

The visit comes seven months after Obama's historic trip to Hiroshima where he became the first U.S. president to visit the area where the United States dropped a nuclear bomb in 1945. 

"President Obama's message for the world without nuclear upon his visit to Hiroshima was engraved in the heart of the Japanese people," Abe said. 

Abe is the fourth prime minister to visit Pearl Harbor, but he's the first to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, which is the US battleship on which 1,177 Marines and sailors died after it sank from the surprise attack on December 7, 1941. 

The attack killed a total of 2,403 people and pushed the U.S. into World War II. 

Abe arrived in Hawaii on Monday and is expected to visit various sites and lay a wreath at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. 

Tuesday, the two leaders will visit the USS Arizona Memorial together to discuss "joint efforts over the past four years to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance," according to the White House. 

Abe was also President-elect Donald Trump's first in-person meeting with a foreign head of state after winning the presidency in November. 

Abe said he was "very honored" to see the incoming U.S. president ahead of other world leaders. 

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