•Profiles of the Leaders

A well as the G8 nations such as Japan, U.S.A. and U.K., 15 other nations have been invited to participate in the Hokkaido Toyako Summit's Outreach Meetings, bringing the total number of participating nations to 23 - the largest to date. Hokkaido will provide the stage for the leaders of those nations to exchange opinions - sometimes calmly, sometimes fiercely - in an attempt to find solutions for such global problems as climate change and African development. Between the debates the leaders will no doubt show their more amiable expressions. Allow us to introduce the profiles of those who will play the leading roles in the drama that will develop at the peak of world politics.

•What is G8 ?

The countdown is on to the G8 Summit of Heads of State, to be held over a three-day period from July 7 in the town of Toyako in Iburi Subprefecture of Hokkaido, Japan. Despite being only a three-day summit, this year the world will focus on Hokkaido as the site for talks on world problems such as global warming. But how will the Summit be held?

•Welcoming Communities

The town of Toyako in Iburi Subprefecture, which will host the upcoming summit of the heads of state of the world's powers (G8 Summit), and Shiribeshi Subprefecture village of Rusutsu, where the Summit's International Media Center is located, are just two of the many communities with distinct agricultural, natural and industrial characteristics in the western Iburi district at the foot of Mt. Yotei that will welcome representatives from the governments and media of countries throughout the world during the period of the Summit.