Japanese Moment of Silence Likely Rather Than Apology for Pearl Harbor Attack

But many of Abe's supporters "don't want him to apologize or say anything near an apology," Roy told VOA.

Japanese and Americans will not be the only ones monitoring Abe's statement, which he will deliver while standing beside President Barack Obama.

Aggrieved Asian peoples "would like a strong apology for issues involving their countries," Roy explained.

"Prime Minister Abe, regardless of what he may believe personally and privately, has fully accepted the official Japanese government's view on these issues," Yuki Tatsumi, senior associate for East Asia programs at the Stimson Center told VOA.

Remorse and apologies have been expressed to other countries by various Japanese prime ministers since the 1950s.

Tatsumi, who served as a special assistant for political affairs at Japan's embassy in Washington, expects Abe's Pearl Harbor remarks "to be very similar to the speech he gave to the U.S. Congress in April 2015 to remember the terrible history of Japan's conduct in World War Two and to reaffirm Japan's commitment of not resorting to war to resolve international disagreements."

"Apologies are not necessary," according to Tetsuo Kotani, senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs.

Abe, he said, only needs to express remorse for those who suffered and died in the human tragedy and express a sincere commitment to peace.

Both Tatsumi and Kotani tell VOA that this aspect of history remains politicized in China and Korea (which were occupied by Imperial Japan), while the United States and Japan are setting an example of true reconciliation.

The Hawaii visit by Abe will be an "appropriate complement to President Obama's visit to Hiroshima this summer. The message is that Japan acknowledges its past, and that it is ready to move forward," said retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Dave Stilwell.

Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor will come just weeks prior to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th U.S. president. And Trump has questioned the fundamentals of America's military alliances with Japan, South Korea and NATO.

Roy, of the East West Center, also sees the Abe visit in part as meant to "reaffirm the Japan alliance right before the Trump administration takes office given some of the fear what might become of the alliance based on the campaign rhetoric."

"Japan once erred and challenged the emergent U.S.-centered international order, but has since repented and is now serving the international order as a good sidekick of the U.S.," said Professor Nakano in Tokyo. "The irony is that Abe at heart doesn't believe any of it, and now he is met by Trump, who doesn't believe any of it either."

The strengthening of the U.S.-Japan military alliance has been justified in recent years as crucial to maintain the liberal international order, Nakano told VOA. "And the entire logic is now bankrupt as neither of the two leaders of the alliance will be a liberal, so God knows where the U.S.-Japan alliance will drift to."