A Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting is usually an opportunity for Japan's top diplomat to step into the global spotlight. For Fumio Kishida, the foreign minister who often stands in the shadow of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the meeting that wrapped up Monday in Hiroshima means so much more.
Through the two-day conference, Kishida, who hails from the atomic-bombed city, gained the kind of public exposure that could provide the political lift needed should he bid for the post of prime minister.
Kishida's potentially crowning accomplishment came when his U.S. counterpart, John Kerry, became the first sitting U.S. secretary of state to offer a floral wreath at the cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.