Obama, Japanese PM Visit Holy Site After Awkward Encounter

ByARLETTE SAENZ ABCNews logo
Thursday, May 26, 2016

President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited one of Japan's holiest sites today, just a day after their awkward, joint news conference.

The president and prime minister strolled through the Ise-Jingu Shrine before meeting with other G7 leaders. The world leaders used shovels to plant trees on the grounds of the holy site.

It was a stark contrast to the icy reception Obama received when he landed in Japan Wednesday.

Abe publicly lectured the president over the slaying of a 20-year-old Japanese woman in Okinawa, allegedly at the hands of a former U.S. Marine.

The president spent the rest of his days in meetings at the G7 summit, where leaders were expected to speak about terrorism, maritime security and the global economy.

Obama will travel to Hiroshima Friday, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site where the United States dropped an atomic bomb during World War II.

"Our visit to Hiroshima will honor all of those who were lost in World War II and reaffirm our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons, as well as highlight the extraordinary alliance that we have been able to forge over these many decades," the president said Wednesday.

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