Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to visit Malta as a side trip when he comes to Europe to attend the G7 summit in Sicily on May 26 and 27.

He would be the first Japanese prime minister to visit Malta.

Japanese media are buzzing with the news that he will possibly use the visit to pay tribute to the 1917 sinking of the former Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer vessel Sakaki, which was based in Malta.

The vessel was hit off the coast of Crete on June 11, 1917 by an Austrian U27. Her bows were blown off when many of the crew were forward in the mess hall. The ship was eventually salvaged and repaired. However, sixty-eight people were killed and the media said he might visit the cemetery in Kalkara for the Imperial Japanese Navy's war dead.

From April 1917, 14 destroyers with cruiser flagships were based in Malta, playing an important part in anti-submarine convoy escort.

Read: Malta connection with Japanese Imperial Navy under study

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