When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes his Group of Eight debut at this week's summit, he will try to raise Japan's profile through leadership on global warming and by taking up North Korea's nuclear ambitions and abductions of Japanese.
More importantly, Abe is hoping that achievements at the three-day summit in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, Germany, can lift him out of his domestic slump ahead of the crucial House of Councilors election in July.
One of Abe's focuses will be the environment, the major topic at the summit beginning Wednesday, with the United States and the Europeans at loggerheads over developing long-term emissions reduction targets.