US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lay wreaths at the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii on Tuesday. [Photo/Agencies] Shinzo Abe did indeed make history, of sorts, by becoming the first Japanese leader to visit the memorial above the wreckage of the USS Arizona in Hawaii and offering his “sincere and everlasting condolences” to those who died 75 years ago when Japan launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.