Please tell us about the circumstances of the PIC's establishment (1996) and its historical background. The background of the PIC establishment can be easily understood by looking at the chronological order of the relationship between Japanese diplomacy and the island countries. Japan's diplomacy with the island countries started in earnest in 1985 when Prime Minister Nakasone visited Oceania. I believe that Mr.Nakasone was the first Japan's prime minister who had a concrete vision of diplomacy with the island countries. In 1979, Prime Minister Ohira announced the Pacific Rim Initiative, a policy to "deepen ties with the Pacific." Prime Minister Suzuki, who took over after the sudden death of Prime Minister Ohira, gave a lecture at the Hawaii East-West Center, where he stopped by on his way back from a visit to the United States, in which he stated his five principles of diplomacy toward the Pacific region. We called this the "Suzuki Doctrine." Prior to this, there was no clear diplomatic policy that Japan had announced for the Pacific region. However, it did not attract attention in the island regions because it did not contain any content that would make island nations appear to be political actors, and it lacked specific vision. After that, Prime Minister Nakasone visited Fiji and PNG. The following year, in 1986, Foreign Minister Kuranari announced in Fiji the five principles of Japan's diplomacy for the island countries. This speech, which specifically looked at the island countries, gained a great reputation and later became the cornerstone of Japan's Pacific diplomacy to this day, as the "Kuranari Doctrine." After Nakasone, however, no other leaders appeared to actively promote the Pacific diplomacy, and Japan continued to simply contribute ODA to developing countries. This may be due to the recognition that there were no pending issues in the Pacific that need special attention. In the meantime, independent island countries emerged one after another in the Pacific, and expectations for economic cooperation from Japan increased. In 1988, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation invited the leaders of ten Pacific Island Countries to Japan for the conference summit of the island countries, which was chaired by former Foreign Minister Kuranari. So to speak, it was the "private sector version of an island summit". In 1990, U.S. President George W. Bush gathered the leaders of the island countries in Hawaii. Australia and NZ have annual summit meetings with the South Pacific Forum. The United Kingdom and France also have summit exchanges at the South Pacific Commission. Japan was the only developed country involved in the region that did not have a summit exchange. Nevertheless, the expectations that the island countries had for Japan were growing, and there were specific requests for Japan to set up a support organization to develop "trade, investment, and tourism." Then, at the annual meeting of the South Pacific Forum, a resolution was adopted in support of Japan's entry into the United Nations Security Council. Mr.Kazuo Kodama, who was the director of the Oceania Division at that time, recalled later, "I felt their passion for Japan and wanted to meet their expectations somehow." This led to the establishment of the PIC in 1996 and the start of the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in 1997.Qトラック諸島トール島にて（1976年）At Tol Island of Truck Islands(1976)
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