Pearl Harbor sends vital message.

Pearl Harbor sends vital message

Kunihiko Yamaoka

Yomiuri

Dec. 8 was the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Pacific War. The attack on Pearl Harbor by an Imperial Japanese Navy warplanes actually occurred Dec. 7 local time. The bravery of defending U.S. forces was commemorated in Pearl Harbor the same day 60 years later.

On that day, the big news in Japan was that the royal baby Aiko, the daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, left the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in the arms of her mother.

The sentiment of peace revealed by the news is in stark contrast to 60 years ago when Japanese celebrated the navy's victory over the United States in the early stages of the war.

However, the two countries now are in the midst of jointly fighting a new type of war, one against terrorism.

At the Pearl Harbor ceremony at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia, U.S. President George W. Bush said the U.S. and Japanese navies "are working side by side in the fight against terror. The …