German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will visit Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture before attending the Group of Eight summit to be held July 21-23 in the city of Nago on Okinawa Island, according to Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine.
Five Miyako municipalities have jointly invited Schroeder to visit the island. Dozens of local governments in Okinawa have extended similar invitations to G8 leaders to visit them during the summit.
Among the five Miyako municipalities is the village of Ueno, where a German emperor dispatched a mission in 1876 to build a monument as an expression of his gratitude to local people who rescued crew members of a German ship that was wrecked off the island during a typhoon.
Inamine said he will announce details of Schroeder's visit around today.
The G8 summit will gather leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia.