Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set to make history when he addresses joint meeting of US Congress
Underlying friction between allies and the frequent change in leaders in Tokyo meant Abe's address next month will be a first
Washington honours America's closest allies by inviting their leaders to address a joint meeting of Congress. But until last week, when House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner invited Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, no Japanese leaders had received an invitation.
That's striking considering the tight US-Japan alliance in the 70 years since the second world war ended. British, South Korean and German leaders have been invited multiple times.
So have two Liberian presidents and a Latvian one - more than 100 invitations overall since the war. So why not Japan?
The answers have to do with underlying friction that has been a part of US-Japanese relations and, more recently, frequent changes of Japanese leaders.
"His address will provide an opportunity for the American people to hear from one of our closest allies," Boehner said.
On April 28, President Barack Obama will host Abe for talks and a state dinner. Abe will also tour Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles during the April 26-May 3 trip, according to Tokyo.
The modern practice of a foreign leader speaking to both houses of Congress began with Winston Churchill in December 1941, just after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. After the war, Japanese leaders were not entirely shunned. Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, in 1957 addressed Congress, but it was to just one chamber, which was still common for visiting foreign leaders until the 1960s.
Kishi had been detained as a war crimes suspect but was never indicted for his role as a wartime cabinet minister. However, he became a strong advocate of closer relations with Washington, pushing through a 1960 security treaty that shaped the alliance as it stands today .
Kishi's successor, Hayato Ikeda, made a very short address to the House in 1961. No Japanese premier has since.
Since 1951, Japanese prime ministers have made 37 working or official visits to the United States, according to a State Department tally. While defence and diplomatic relations have been very close, from the 1970s through to the 1990s there was trade friction and American anxiety that its economy could be eclipsed.
But congressman Henry Hyde, chair of the House International Relations Committee, objected in a letter to the House speaker, saying Koizumi should forgo future visits to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo where war criminals are among those memorialised.
Abe also has hawkish views, and a December 2013 visit to Yasukuni angered China and South Korea, raising tensions and complicating US diplomacy.
Washington has stressed the need for Japan and its neighbours, including another US treaty ally, South Korea, to bury historical animosities.
But Abe is the first prime minister since Koizumi to stay in office more than 16 months, and he has invested considerable political capital to forge stronger ties with the US.
Despite domestic opposition, he propelled Japan into negotiations on a pan-Pacific free-trade pact, and plans to loosen the binds on the nation's military under its pacifist constitution.
Asked about the speech, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that it would "have great significance in that it will demonstrate the strong US-Japan alliance to the world.
"This will be a splendid opportunity to send a message to the world, that the US and Japan reconciled after the war and as strong allies... have contributed to the peace and prosperity of international society."
Majority of Japanese public support official apology for colonial rule and aggression during second world war
A majority of Japanese people surveyed think Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should express regret and apologise for Japan's colonial rule and aggression in marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war, a Kyodo News poll found yesterday.
While 54.6 per cent said those expressions should be part of Abe's anniversary statement, 30.5 per cent said otherwise. On Abe's bid to enact legislation for Japan to play a greater security role, 49.8 per cent were opposed to his doing so, and 77.9 per cent said prior Diet approval is necessary for the Self-Defence Forces to be send overseas for logistical support for other countries' militaries.
