(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Shinzo Abe has become the first Japanese prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
Mr Abe received thunderous applause when offering a heartfelt apology for Japan's actions during the Second World War.
But it's intensified criticism over why he hasn't done the same for Japan's Asian neighbours.
Manny Tsigas reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, tours the towering stone columns of Washington's World War II memorial.
The conflict claimed the lives of around 400,000 Americans, many at the hands of Japanese soldiers.
Seven decades later, Mr Abe laying a wreath at the monument serves as a powerful gesture of just how far both countries have come.
Japan is now America's staunchest Asian ally and during a historic speech at Capitol Hill, Mr Abe addressed a Trans-Pacific Partnership and a future US-Japan military alliance.
But first he expressed what he called "deep repentance" for Japan's past role.
"I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls of all American people that were lost during World War II."
But Japan's actions in Asia during the war have somewhat overshadowed his visit.
In the crowd sat 87-year-old Lee Yong-Soo, one of the estimated 200,000 women forced into sexual slavery by occupying Japanese troops.
Earlier she'd joined over 100 protesters in Washington to demand their own apology.
(Translated) "It's impossible for us to move on because these issues of history haven't been solved. We can't forget the past, it keeps haunting us. I will fight until I die. I will win this fight."
In Congress, while Mr Abe expressed what he called "deep remorse" over Japan's actions in Asia, he did not apologise.
Instead, he used a now familiar form of words.
"Our actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries. We must not avert our eyes from that."
That wasn't enough for Ms Lee or the congressman who invited her.
Mike Makoto Honda serves as the US Representative for California's 17th congressional district, known as Silicon Valley.
It's the only Asian American-majority district in the continental United States.
He described the speech as a missed opportunity for Japan to be more direct about its wartime behaviour.
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