Following the inauguration of his second cabinet on July 4, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori held a press conference at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. He expressed his determination to achieve his Plan for the Rebirth of Japan and discussed its five pillars: rebirth of the economy, creation of an aging society in which people can live reassured lives, educational reform, rebirth of government, an realization of a "Japan which engenders the trust of the world."

As an event related to the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit,the"G8 Youth Summit,Okinawa 2000 -Living Together in a Better World in the 21st Century -" (Chairmanof the Executive Committee:Mr. Hirotaro Higuchi) took place between young people from the G8 nations from June 24 to June 25 in Ginowan, Okinawa. On July 12, 2000, three representatives of the"Youth Summit" participants-Mr. Takatoshi Tomoyose, Miss Yoshie Hamada, and Miss Yuriko Kyan; three high school students -paid a courtesy call to the Chairman of the G8 Summit, Prime Minister Mori, at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, Tokyo, and handed in their recommendation.

The Tax Commission, an advisory body to the Prime Minister chaired by Hiroshi Kato, President of Chiba University of Commerce, submitted a midterm report outlining the taxation system it envisages for Japan in the twenty-first century to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. The report, "The Current Situation and Issues Regarding the Japanese Taxation System: Working for Participation and Making Choices Toward the Twenty-first Century," also called for national debate on social insurance and other public services and their costs, in view of Japan's aging society and falling birthrate and present fiscal constraints.

Under the "Japan Rebirth Plan", the Mori Cabinet eagerly addresses the" Rebirth of Industry" and the "IT (Information Technology) Revolution". As one of the most important buttresses of the "Japan Rebirth Plan", the ndustrial Rebirth Council was established by the initiative of Prime Minister Mori and its first meeting was held on July 17, 2000, at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. The Industrial Rebirth Council, which consists of Ministers concerned and representatives of industries, will make under the public sector-private sector cooperation comprehensive deliberation as regards necessary measures for the "Rebirth of Industry" .

Under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the Government-Ruling Parties Budget Conference held its first meeting at the Prime Minister's Official Residence to consider ways and means of enhancing the efficiency and quality of fiscal administration. In his opening remarks the Prime Minister emphasized the importance, for achieving stable and sustainable growth, of breaking down the fiscal rigidity caused by the practice of allocating budget funds within the framework of individual government agencies. In particular, he expressed his determination to exercise leadership to make fiscal administration more efficient and improve its qualities in view of the reorganization of central government agencies to be implemented in January 2001.

The conference comprises the Prime Minister, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Director General of the Economic Planning Agency, and the Secretaries General and policy leaders of the three ruling parties: the Liberal Democratic Party, the New Komeito, and the New Conservative Party. In order to translate the Plan for the Rebirth of Japan, the key policy platform of the second Mori Cabinet, into concrete form, the conference declared its intention of introducing a "special budgetary framework for the rebirth of Japan" that would earmark funds for measures aimed at bringing about the rebirth of Japan's socioeconomy in the twenty-first century. This would target not only the information technology revolution, the aging society, and environmental measures but also such areas as the development of human resources in the context of the creation of new industries, social welfare, and long-term care for the elderly.

As to the "IT Revolution", the first joint meeting of the IT Strategy Council (Chairman: Mr. Nobuyuki Idei, Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation) and the IT Strategy Headquarters (Chairman: Prime Minister Mori) was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on July 18, 2000.

The IT Strategy Headquarters, which is composed of Ministers concerned, was established in the Cabinet by a Cabinet Decision of July 7, 2000, in order to promote comprehensively, as the headquarters of national efforts, measures aimed at making benefits of the IT Revolution be enjoyed by all the people of Japan and to build a nation with international competitiveness in the world revolutionized by IT. The IT Strategy Council, which was created in the IT Strategy Headquarters, comprises 18 experts.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori observed a demonstration at the Prime Minister's Official Residence of cutting-edge robotics incorporating information technology (IT). After hearing an explanation of the "IT robot," the Prime Minister took a turn manipulating the humanoid robot by remote control, using a PHS (personal handyphone system), to move in synchronicity with his arm and finger movements.

Recognizing the significance of the IT Revolution, which can be compared to that of the preceding Agricultural Revolution or the Industrial Revolution in the history of humankind, Prime Minister Mori convened an IT pre-Summit Roundtable Meeting on July 19, 2000, at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and consulted with world leaders in the IT field. IT will be high on the agenda of the G8 Summit in Okinawa, July 21-23, 2000, at which the Prime Minister of Japan will preside.

The participants of the IT pre-Summit Roundtable Meeting were as follows: Mr. John Chambers, President and CEO, Cisco Systems Inc.; Mr. Vernon J. Ellis, International Chairman, Andersen Consulting; Mr. John Gage, Chief Researcher and Director, Sun Microsystems Inc.; Mr. Richard T.K.. Li, Chairman and Chief Executive, Pacific Century Group; Mr. Roberto R. Romulo, Chairman, e-ASEAN Task Force; Mr. Klaus Schwab, Chairman and Founder, World Economic Forum; Mr. Naoyuki Akikusa, President, Fujitsu Limited; Mr. Nobuyuki Idei, Chairman and CEO, Representative Director, Sony Corporation; Mr. Jiro Ushio, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, USHIO INC.; Mr. Taizo Nishimuro, Chairman of the board, Toshiba Corporation; and Mr. Takeo Shiina, Senior Advisor, IBM Japan. From the government, Chief Cabinet Secretary and IT Policy Minister Nakagawa, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Hirabayashi, Minister of International Trade and Industry Hiranuma, Minister for Foreign Affairs Kono, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Ueno, and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Furukawa attended the roundtable presided over by Prime Minister Mori.

The summit meeting of the Group of Eight Kyushu-Okinawa Summit, chaired by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, took place at the Bankoku Shinryokan, Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture. The G8 leaders discussed what their countries should do to enable all people to enjoy greater prosperity, gain greater peace of mind, and live in a more stable world, sending out a bright and powerful message of peace from Okinawa on the threshold of the twenty-first century. On July 21, discussion of regional issues was followed by announcement of the G8 Statement on the Korean Peninsula and the G8 Statement on Regional Issues. On July 22, the Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society, dealing with issues surrounding information technology (IT), was issued. On July 23, the G8 Communique Okinawa 2000, summing up the Summit discussions, was adopted.

In the communique the G8 leaders agreed to take initiatives to enable all people to take advantage of the diverse opportunities offered by IT, laid down numerical targets in the fight against such infectious diseases as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and agreed to strengthen initiatives to build partnership with nongovernmental organizations. The communique also emphasized the importance of a "Culture of Prevention" in conflict prevention and touched on such issues as debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries, inauguration of a new World Trade Organization round of trade talks, and food safety.

A group of "budding reporters" chosen from among elementary and middle school students in Okinawa Prefecture paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. Greeting the youngsters, the Prime Minister expressed his thanks for the efforts of the people of Okinawa in making the recent Group of Eight Kyushu-Okinawa Summit a success. Tomomi Shashiki, a first-year student at Gusukube Middle School, in the town of Gusukube speaking on behalf of the group, said, "The people of Okinawa are grateful to you for having had the chance to welcome the world's leaders and, with your help, make the Summit a success."

At the opening of the 149th session of the National Diet, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori delivered a policy speech to the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. He reported on the Group of Eight Kyushu-Okinawa Summit earlier in the month and expressed his determination to make his Plan for the Rebirth of Japan the basis of policy and move boldly and appropriately to realize its key components: rebirth of the economy, rebirth of social security, rebirth of education, rebirth of government, and rebirth of foreign policy.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright of the United States at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. The two exchanged views on bilateral relations, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and the situation in the Middle East.

The Council for Gender Equality, an advisory body to the Prime Minister chaired by Sumiko Iwao, Professor at the Musashi Institute of Technology and Professor Emeritus of Keio University, submitted a report titled "Basic Policies to Address Violence Against Women" to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

The council began investigating violence against women in June 1997. In May 1999 it submitted a report titled "Toward a Society Free of Violence Against Women" recommending a number of initial measures. The present report, building on changes since the first report and the results of a survey of violence between men and women conducted by the Prime Minister's Office in fiscal 1999, pointed out common factors characterizing various forms of violence against women, discussed the current situation with regard to violence by husbands and partners, sex crimes, prostitution, sexual harassment, and stalking, and recommended further initiatives to reduce violence against women.