Japan ex-PM Yoshida’s forgotten Pearl Harbor visit recounted
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will visit Pearl Harbor with President Barack Obama on Tuesday, wasn’t even born when Japan’s former leader Shigeru Yoshida went there just six years after the country’s World War II surrender, by himself and feeling awkward.
Yoshida is best remembered for signing the San Francisco peace treaty with the U.S. and others in 1951, allowing Japan back into international society after its war defeat. His Pearl Harbor visit, which he made on his way home from San Francisco, was largely eclipsed by the historic treaty.
Archival writings and photos unearthed by The Associated Press reconstruct Yoshida’s visit, from his aim to win U.S. trust to how he was put at ease by the U.S. Navy commander’s dog.
Yoshida arrived at Pearl Harbor on Sept. 12, 1951, shortly after requesting a courtesy visit to the office of Adm. Arthur W.R. Radford, commander of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The office overlooked Pearl Harbor, offering a direct view of the site of the Japanese attack of Dec. 7, 1941.