Japanese PM Shinzo Abe accompanied by US President Barack Obama visited the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, where he offered "sincere and everlasting condolences" to the victims of Japan's attack on the base 75 years ago.
The is the first visit by the leaders of both countries.
Mr Abe paid tribute to the men who lost their lives at the naval base, many of whom remain entombed in the wreckage of the USS Arizona, sunk by the Japanese that day, and vowed reconciliation and peace.
He went on to praise the US for its efforts to mend relations with Japan following the war between the two countries, which ended shortly after the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945.
Mr Obama also paid tribute to the dead, saying that he had laid a wreath on "waters that still weep".
Mr Abe is the first Japanese leader to visit memorial on the site of the Arizona. He and Mr Obama laid wreaths at the site.
Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor damaged all eight of the US battleships at the base and sunk four of them, propelling the US into World War Two.
Nearly half of those killed were on the Arizona and the remains of most are still entombed in the wreckage.
All eight battleships at the base were damaged and four were sunk. But the key US aircraft carriers were at sea at the time.
Mr Abe's visit, three weeks after the 75th anniversary of the attack, follows a visit earlier this year to Hiroshima by Mr Obama.
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