The situation in the Pacific Islands region is becoming more complicated due to the expansion of geopolitical competition, the strengthening of sovereignty of Pacific Island countries, and the increase in development partners involved in the region. Japan has built close relationships with Pacific Island countries through people-to-people ties, fishing, development cooperation, etc., but changes in the regional situation and the impact of the ALPS treated water issue have reduced Japan's influence in the region. It was against this background that the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) held in July 2024 and the Pacific Island Nations Weeks organized by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation became a new starting point for restoring trust between the two parties and building multi-layered relationships for the future.

Until the mid-2000s, Pacific Island countries were strongly influenced by former colonial powers such as the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. However, since the late 2000s, they have strengthened their sovereignty and advanced toward self-reliance through diversifying diplomatic relations, increased influence in the international community, and the proliferation of development partners. Since the mid-2010s, China's activities in particular have significantly altered the regional situation. Unlike developed countries, China has taken a South-South approach to cooperation, promoting infrastructure development through loans and grants for cultural and sports facilities, government buildings, roads, and ports while advancing trade, economic revitalization, and human resource development. Furthermore, it has intensified its engagement with security and law enforcement sectors. Its intention appears to be to reduce the number of countries recognizing Taiwan, to transform the regional structural base, including traditional security arrangements dominated by the former colonial powers, and to construct a new structure through South-South cooperation. In response, these developed countries (mainly former colonial powers), which had shown aid fatigue in the 2000s, have renewed their engagement with Pacific Island countries since 2016. Examples include New Zealand's "Pacific Reset" policy, Australia's "Step-Up" policy, Japan's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific," the United States' "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy," the UK's strengthened regional involvement, the revival of the Quad by Japan, the US, Australia, and India, and the US-led platform for collaboration among developed countries, "Partners in the Blue Pacific" (PBP).
Pacific Island countries welcome the strengthened engagement of development partners that promote national development, though differences exist among the U.S. Freely Associated States of the northern hemisphere and the Commonwealth nations of the southern hemisphere. At the same time, these nations define climate change as their greatest threat to national survival and keep a certain distance from geopolitical competition based on security concerns. This stance of the Pacific Island countries is reflected in the "2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent," agreed upon at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in 2022. The Strategy covers seven priority themes: political leadership and regionalism, people-centered development, peace and security, resource and economic development, climate change and disasters, oceans and natural environment, and technology and connectivity. It aims to achieve sustainable development and prosperity for the region by ensuring the Pacific Island countries take ownership and achieve consistent cooperation from development partners so that future generations can inherit a healthy blue Pacific.

The 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) was held in Japan in July 2024. It was the first time to be held in Tokyo in 27 years, since the first event in 1997, and the first time in six years as an in-person event. The biggest challenge was to restore trust between Japan and the Pacific Island countries, which had deteriorated since the announcement of the ALPS treated water ocean discharge policy in April 2021. While Japan has explained its safety based on scientific evidence and international standards, the Pacific Island countries, including the PIF Secretariat, maintain a strongly critical posture toward Japan, equating ALPS treated water with nuclear tests. However, at PALM10, the leaders recognized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as the authority on nuclear safety and agreed on the importance of following scientific evidence, marking significant progress. Regardless, Japan is expected to continue to provide transparent scientific data and explanations while building the region's scientific and monitoring capabilities.
In the PALM10 Leaders' Declaration¹, there was an increase in the use of the term "leaders" instead of the format used in past declarations which distinguished between the assertions of the Pacific Island countries and Japan; also, in the Joint Action Plan the expression "PALM partners" was used. Furthermore, the last item of the declaration clearly states, "Leaders pledged that Japan and PIF Members will remain firm partners for each other in achieving together their shared vision in the Pacific region towards 2050, as it has always been."
This result is mainly because Japan, rather than clinging to the phrase “Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” has presented specific steps and pursued discussions aligned with the 2050 strategy. This approach of aligning the vision of development partners with the strategies of the Pacific Island countries was reflected in the atmosphere at the 53rd PIF Leaders Meeting held in Tonga in August 2024.
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation hosted a conference among Pacific Island countries in 1988, which evolved into the current PALM. However, more than 30 years have passed, and the situation in the region has become increasingly complicated. As a result, we now need the combined efforts of industry, academia, and the private sector to turn national and regional policies into practical solutions for the challenges people face. Therefore, in conjunction with PALM10, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation invited over 50 ministers and practitioners from Pacific Island countries for the two-week Pacific Island Nations Weeks² event in Tokyo. The event aimed to promote understanding of actual local situations through more than 20 seminars on nontraditional security, Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), exclusive economic zone management, sustainable tourism, and the community-based Sasakawa tourism model (an eco-tourism model led by local communities balancing natural and cultural preservation and economic promotion³). It also covered topics like traditional culture protection, judicial cooperation, the economy, waste management, human resources, education, health and sanitation, disaster management, the impact of sea level rise, and media. It featured keynote speeches by leaders from Palau, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji, Niue, and French Polynesia, and sales of local products and introductions of culture from Pacific Island nations, including a display of traditional Palauan canoes in cooperation with Mie Prefecture. This initiative will be developed into the Freely Linked Opportunities With Efforts and Results (FLOWERS), a platform for dialog involving government, industry, academia, and the private sector.
By building a multi-layered relationship between Japan and the Pacific Island countries through PALM and FLOWERS, both sides are expected to develop a new mutual cooperation framework that will benefit future generations as well.

1. PALM10 Japan-PIF Leaders Declaration: https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100702610.pdf
2. Pacific Island Nations Weeks Website: https://www.spf.org/weeks2024.html
3. Reference for the Community-Based Sasakawa Tourism Model: https://bizgate.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOLM16AML016072024000000