The word “surprise” is often used when describing the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese fighter pilots nearly 75 years ago. Less tragically yet politically weighty, it also applied to an impromptu Sunday visit to the USS Arizona Memorial by Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It was a welcome surprise. And perhaps — we hope — a foreshadowing of a visit from the prime minister himself.

The visit by Akie Abe prompted speculation that Shinzo Abe, too, might pay his respects in person during the 75th commemoration of the Dec. 7, 1941, air strike that led the U.S. to declare war on Japan in World War II’s Pacific theater. So far, Shinzo Abe has said he has no plans to attend the ceremonies, but his presence would speak volumes — to global citizens who hope and strive for peace in a world too often mired in conflict, and profoundly, to the six remaining USS Arizona survivors.

No Japanese prime minister has visited Pearl Harbor, where 1,177 sailors and Marines were killed as a result of Japan’s attack. If Shinzo Abe were to make an appearance during commemorative events scheduled for Dec. 1-11, it would be an honorable gesture.

There is no need for an apology. Shinzo Abe, and modern-day Japan, cannot and should not carry the burden for the death and destruction that took place 75 years ago.

Much like President Barack Obama’s visit in May to Hiroshima — where an estimated 140,000 people were killed by the U.S. atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945 — Shinzo Abe is urged to take the opportunity to reflect and speak about the enduring peace the two countries share, not war.

Akie Abe wrote in a Facebook entry Monday that she laid flowers and prayed at the USS Arizona Memorial. She also posed for a photograph with Herb Weatherwax, 99, an American veteran who survived the attack and now volunteers at the memorial visitor center. The two conversed through an interpreter.

“I’ve come to Hawaii many times, but I’ve never visited Pearl Harbor. As I think about the past war more often over the past year as we mark 70 years since the end of the war, I’ve felt strongly about visiting the site,” Akie Abe was quoted as saying in an online Gendai Business magazine article linked to her Facebook post. “I wanted to see the site myself and offer a prayer for those who died.”

Her husband should follow suit. However, the prime minister’s camp was quick to characterize Akie Abe’s visit to the Arizona Memorial as a personal one and declined further comment. Akie Abe was in Hawaii to attend the Japan-U.S. International Symposium for Ocean Conservation.

Offering his respects at Pearl Harbor would be a strong, symbolic show of reverence from Prime Minister Abe, who in an April 2015 address before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress described how moved he was during a visit to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“Pearl Harbor, Bataan, Corregidor, Coral Sea … The battles engraved at the Memorial crossed my mind, and I reflected upon the lost dreams and lost futures of those young Americans,” he said in his address. “ … With deep repentance in my heart, I stood there in silent prayers for some time. My dear friends, on behalf of Japan and the Japanese people, I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls of all American people that were lost during World War II.”

That sentiment would have an even greater impact if Shinzo Abe offered it in person at the USS Arizona Memorial, where many are still entombed. We respectfully request the prime minister’s presence, with no apologies necessary.