Over the three day period between September 16th and 18th in Tokyo, a “Pacific Islands Festa” was held under the auspices of the five Pacific Island embassies located in the capital city. The Festa is an expanded version of the “Pacific Night” hosted in 2007 by the embassies of the Republic of the Fiji Islands the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. The Festa was held this year with the cooperation of the Sasakawa Pacific Island Nations Fund (SPINF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and the Pacific Islands Centre, with the Nippon Foundation providing the venue gratis.

The purposes of the Festa can be split broadly into three categories: (1) To stimulate awareness of the positive attributes of the Pacific region as a source market for imports to Japan (2) To stimulate awareness and interest regarding the various investment opportunities in the Pacific region, and (3) to provide a golden opportunity to further strengthen the friendship between the five Pacific countries and Japan.

Over the three-day period, there were exhibitions and sales of local products, showings of various videos and DVDs, as well as seminars and photographic displays featuring investment opportunities and tourist attractions, chances to try out handicrafts, and other interesting events. The atmosphere at the Festa was positively buzzing, with vigorous music and dance performances from the participating countries providing unique opportunities to come into contact with the culture of the Pacific region. Also to be seen were presentations given by Japanese NGOs currently addressing topics such as destruction of the environment due to global warming and industrial waste.