During his nine-day whirlwind trip of seven major nations that ended last weekend, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori laid the groundwork for a G8 summit scheduled for July in Okinawa, a meeting that he will chair as head of the host government. His main purpose, of course, was to get acquainted with leaders of the other summit nations and secure promises of cooperation to help make the meeting a success. In this respect, he has made an auspicious start.

Nevertheless, the trip has left a key question largely unanswered: Precisely what does the prime minister intend to achieve at the summit? Not that the question was skirted. The fact is he did not, or was unable to, discuss it in depth, perhaps for lack of time. Still, the impression is that, overall, the "round the world" trip ended on a lackluster note.

The get-acquainted journey was a must for Mr. Mori, who unexpectedly took office in early April after his predecessor, Mr. Keizo Obuchi, was incapacitated by a stroke. Having little diplomatic experience, Mr. Mori was an unknown internationally. With the Okinawa summit around the corner — a great occasion to sell himself on the world stage — he needed very much to establish a personal relationship with other G8 leaders.