Discussion of issues specific to island communities requires an appropriate setting. This project addressed that need by bringing together Japanese and Pacific Islander opinion leaders for meetings on remote islands in Japan.
The first Island Forum was held in 1994 on the island of Amami-Oshima. Despite initial apprehensions about the success of this first attempt, the 14 participants engaged in vigorous and fruitful discussions for three days in the village of Bashayama, at one point moving outside to continue their talks amid the breezes and sounds of the sea.
A proposal was made at this first forum to carry out exchange activities between Japan and the Pacific Islands, and it was decided that further Island Forums would be held for that purpose. Subsequent forums were held on the islands of Amami-Oshima, Hachijojima and Sadogashima. At the Hachijojima meeting in 1995, Mr.John Fritz, first secretary of the Embassy of Micronesia, and Ruby Ah Yuk, a student from Fiji who was studying at Asia University, pointed out that Pacific Islanders living in Japan were ideally placed to help deepen Japanese people's understanding of the Pacific Island region. Taking this cue, Mr. Hiroyuki Kasai of Sadogashima and fellow members of the grassroots NGO Mirai Juku applied their extraordinary energy and resourcefulness to hold two short exchange meetings on Sadogashima for some 20 Pacific Islander students in Japan. Belying doubts that such meetings begin and end with mere talk, these sessions led to further concrete exchange projects between the people of Sadogashima and Pacific Islanders in Japan, and to the publication of a directory of Pacific Islandsrelated organizations and individuals in Japan.
Nonetheless, after eight Island Forums it is felt that the time has come for less talk and more action towards realizing the ideas discussed so far. For the moment, at least, The Sasakawa Pacific Island Nations Fund will need to continue to act as a facilitator of such efforts.