When Japan welcomes the Group of Seven to Hiroshima this week it will not be the first time the country has hosted the international conference where leaders exchange views on political, economic and other global issues.
The origin of the annual summit, hosted in turns by member countries, dates back to 1975, when France acted as host.
Japan has hosted six G7 summits, starting in 1979 at the Akasaka State Guest House in Tokyo.
Then-Prime Minister Ohira Masayoshi welcomed the leaders of the US, Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, Canada and the European Community -- the predecessor of the European Union.
At the top of their agenda was the second oil crisis triggered by the Islamic Revolution in Iran that caused the country's oil output to plunge, and prompted OPEC to announce a price hike.
Japan hosted its second summit in 1986, in Tokyo.
The heads of seven major countries attended meetings chaired by then-Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro.
The leaders agreed on the need for a forum to discuss global economic and monetary policies, in the wake of the Plaza Accord the previous year to depreciate the US dollar.
They decided to launch a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, which has been held every year since.
The third summit hosted by Japan was in 1993, again in Tokyo.
Then-Prime Minister Miyazawa Kiichi chaired meetings on the lingering impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union two years earlier.
The leaders discussed issues such as aid for the newborn Russia and countries in the former Soviet bloc, as well as management of nuclear arms.
After the summit, the leaders welcomed Russian President Boris Yeltsin for a "G7+1" meeting.
From the following year, Russia began taking part in summit discussions as a partner.
It officially joined the conference in 1998, making it the Group of Eight.
The fourth Japan-hosted summit was the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in 2000.
When the government announced the event would be held outside Tokyo for the first time, eight regions vied to become the venue for it.
Then-Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo decided to hold the summit in Nago City, Okinawa, to show world leaders how the prefecture was struggling with issues including the burden of hosting US military bases.
Because of Obuchi's sudden death, the summit was chaired by his successor Mori Yoshiro.
Then-US President Bill Clinton became the first US president to visit Okinawa, which was returned to Japan from US control in 1972.
He visited the Cornerstone of Peace, dedicated to the victims of the Battle of Okinawa during World War Two, and delivered a speech in which he promised efforts to realign and downsize US bases in the prefecture to ease the burden on the local population.
Japan hosted its fifth summit in 2008, at Lake Toyako, Hokkaido.
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo had earlier chosen the scenic lakeside venue in the northernmost prefecture because it fit his image of his catchphrase "a beautiful country, Japan." Abe's successor Fukuda Yasuo chaired the summit.
The leaders agreed at the summit to make it a global target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2050.
They also issued a summit declaration expressing alarm over inflation concerns heightened by soaring crude oil prices and other factors.
The sixth and most recent Japan-hosted summit was in 2016, in Ise-Shima, Mie Prefecture.
The summit had reverted to the G7 framework in 2014, when Russia was excluded for unilaterally annexing Crimea.
The venue was selected for its embodiment of Japan's natural scenery, rich culture and traditions.
Then-Prime Minister Abe greeted his counterparts at Ise Shrine.
The leaders discussed issues such as fiscal spending for sustainable growth of the world economy.
Then-US President Barack Obama later traveled to Hiroshima, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the atomic-bombed city.