From April 28 to May 6 ,2000,Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori visited Russia, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. The main objectives of his first overseas trip since taking office were to build personal relations of trust with the leaders of the other G8 countries and the European Union and solicit their cooperation for a successful Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in July. Despite his whirlwind schedule as he flew around the globe in nine days conferring with the G8 and EU leaders, the energy of Prime Minister Mori, a keen rugby player , never flagged.