February 23, 2026
1. Opening
Your Royal Highness, Your Excellencies, Distinguished delegates from the Pacific Island Countries.
Our friends from Southeast Asia who are joining us today as observers.
And all of our valued partners.
My name is Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of Defense of Japan.
It is with the deepest sense of honor and heartfelt respect that I welcome each and every one of you to Japan.
Between us lies the vast Pacific Ocean.
Yet this Pacific has never been a wall that divides us.
For us, it has always been—and remains—a shared embrace, a blue corridor that binds us together and carries our common destiny forward.
I resonate deeply with the vision you have articulated in the words “the Blue Pacific Continent.” Indeed, this region is no longer merely a collection of islands. Today, it has become one continent—spread across the ocean itself—among the most dynamic and vibrant in the world.
I was born and raised in Yokosuka, the gateway that connects Japan with the Pacific Island Countries. And it is from that personal history that I wish to share with you today a message that is, at its core, simple and clear.
To safeguard the Pacific as the “Ocean of peace”.
To that end, with you—the custodians of the Blue Pacific Continent—at the very center, let us strengthen the bonds among all those gathered in this hall, and together build a region that is autonomous, resilient, and enduring.
Today, I would like to address three points. First, the three challenges that we face. Second, how we will overcome those challenges. And third, the three pillars of action through which we will do so.
2. Three Challenges We Face
Let me begin with the first point, the three challenges we face.
Distinguished delegates, at this very moment, three turbulent waves are crashing upon this beautiful Blue Pacific Continent.
First, there is the stark reality of lands being lost to the seas.
Rising sea levels, cyclones, floods, and droughts driven by climate change—these are not merely environmental challenges. They strip people of their homelands, unsettle daily life, and threaten the very survival of nations.
As you yourselves have repeatedly and powerfully conveyed to the world, this is nothing less than the greatest threat to security.
Second, we face a challenge to the maritime order.
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; smuggling and trafficking; and transnational crimes involving drugs and weapons. These acts do more than plunder marine resources or erode national sovereignty. They steadily corrode our societies and economies and shake the very foundations of the rule of law.
Distinguished delegates, without the rule of law at sea, there can be neither peace nor prosperity.
Third, we confront the weaponization of everything.
Economies, technologies, resources, information, and cyberspace—misused for political coercion and flooded with disinformation. These have already become real and present threats, exploiting the vulnerabilities of our societies and economies.
The boundary between peacetime and contingency, between military and non-military, between truth and fake news- these are no longer clearly visible.
And these three turbulent waves are not isolated.
They are interlinked, reinforcing and amplifying one another. Moreover, they are challenges that no country can withstand alone.
That is precisely why our preparedness cannot consist of isolated efforts. Our responses, too, must be interconnected—mutually reinforcing, and firmly bound together.
3. How We Will Overcome Those Challenges
Let me move onto the second point, how we will overcome those challenges.
There is only one thing that we must protect.
It is a free and open “ocean of peace,” grounded in the rule of law.
How do we protect it? This is the second point I wish to address today.
My proposal is clear.
It is not about someone creating a single, massive framework and pressing you into it.
Rather, it is about the noble resolve held by you—the custodians of the Blue Pacific Continent—the resolve that the future of your own countries and of this region must be chosen by yourselves.
It is about taking that resolve and, through our own efforts, connecting points into lines, weaving lines into networks, and layering those networks again and again, until they become strong and enduring.
And it is about extending such networks within the region, and even beyond it — so that when some countries face crisis, or are struck by disaster, the region as a whole can absorb the shock and push back together.
That is how we generate true resilience.
I have called this approach a “multilayered network of interconnectivity.”
Distinguished delegates, this is not a theory confined to paper.
For example, the Operation Christmas Drop, which has now been carried out continuously for more than eleven years.
This year as well, the air forces of Japan, the United States, Canada, and the Republic of Korea, working in close coordination with the authorities of Micronesia and Palau, delivered large quantities of humanitarian assistance.
Or consider the major volcanic eruption in Tonga four years ago.
When a Japanese transport vessel carried emergency relief supplies to Tonga, it was an Australian ship that provided the fuel it needed. And it was Australia that refueled the transport aircraft as well.
In response to crises in the region, countries that share the same spirit connect their respective efforts, generate synergy, and transform those efforts into strength for the region as a whole.
This is the power of interconnectivity.
The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent that you have put forward clearly articulates the principle of addressing challenges effectively through coordinated responses.
Our ideals and our approaches resonate deeply with one another.
4. Three pillars of action
Now, let me turn to my third point today.
It is about three pillars to strengthen interconnectivity across the region:
“connecting people,” “connecting crisis response,” and “connecting resilience.”
First, the connection between people and people.
The starting point of trust is a face-to-face relationship.
Distinguished delegates, this JPIDD itself is an important forum for that very purpose.
At this moment, at Japan’s National Defense Academy, four young students from Fiji and Tonga are studying side by side with Japanese students — learning together, training together, and growing together. They are with us here today as well. Please give them a huge round of applause.
Thank you.
Furthermore, this year Japan will launch a new initiative: the Next-Generation Leadership Security Program. It is a new effort designed to enable practitioners to build face-to-face relationships of trust with one another.
They will, I am confident, become the leaders who will connect Japan with your region in the years ahead.
Next, the connection in crisis response.
Climate change and natural disasters, infectious diseases, IUU fishing, and transnational crime — all of these cross borders with ease. That is precisely why our responses must be connected across borders.
Japan is providing strong support to enhance maritime domain awareness across the region and to strengthen maritime law enforcement capabilities. Last year, our Maritime Self-Defense Force visited twelve countries in the region and conducted joint training, including boarding and inspection exercises, with eleven countries.
Going forward as well, together with you, we will continue to build a region that is resilient in the face of crises and disasters.
Third, the connection of resilience.
Cyberattacks, the malicious use of AI, and disinformation — these are new and invisible threats. They have already become real and present dangers, threatening our economies and fracturing our societies.
Strengthening cybersecurity, ensuring the sound and responsible use of AI, and addressing disinformation — on these challenges as well, we will work together with you.
Together, we will safeguard democracy and protect the information space.
Today, JPIDD has taken a historic step forward.
I invite distinguished delegates to take a look around. Alongside the leaders of the Pacific Island Countries, for the first time, our friends from Southeast Asia are also with us today.
This clearly points to the new direction that JPIDD must pursue in the years ahead.
Japan, together with the U.S. and like-minded countries; the Pacific Island Countries; and Southeast Asia. We, each based on our own free choices, will deepen our interconnectivity.
And together, as a whole, we will strengthen our resilience and autonomy, so that we can stand firm against any crisis or danger that threatens peace and prosperity.
Together with all of you, I wish to move toward such a future—with greater resolve, greater substance, and greater speed.
That is my last point.
5. Closing
Now, the network of interconnectivity is expanding even further.
In 2007, then-Prime Minister Abe delivered a speech in India entitled “The Confluence of the Two Seas.” It set forth a vision in which the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean would be bound together as seas of freedom and prosperity.
Just last month in Honolulu, and a week ago in Munich, I stated that the security of the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic is inseparable.
What were once the two seas have now expanded into three seas—the Pacific, the Indian, and the Atlantic. And at the very center of them all lies one sea: our Pacific.
The Pacific may, at times, be rough.
But if we can build a strong and multi-layered network, reaching beyond regions, then no matter how fierce the waves may become, the Pacific can — and will — remain the ocean of peace.
The oceans must be free and open. We are sustained by a shared resolve.
Distinguished delegates, it was the ancestors of the Pacific people that in the long-distant past brought about the “confluence of the two seas” through trade.
And in this era of three seas, we are the protagonists.
That is why JPIDD exists. Let us speak candidly, and let us act together.
Tomorrow marks four years since Russia’s aggression against Ukraine began. I sincerely hope that this JPIDD will serve as a platform where we stand united in our unwavering commitment to peace – and where we reaffirm that attempts to change the status quo by force must never be tolerated.
Thank you very much.