The heads of state of the world's seven wealthiest nations plus the leaders of the European Union began their annual summit on Thursday in the coastal Japanese city of Ise Shima.
Prime Minster Shinzo Abe greeted U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada at the Ise Grand Shrine. Each leader walked across a long bridge to the shrine, accompanied by a white-robed priest, before assembling for a traditional group photograph.
The agenda for the two-day G7 summit is dedicated to boosting the sluggish global economy, combating terrorism and maritime security, the last point an obvious nod to China's increasing territorial expansion in the resource-rich South China Sea.
After the summit's conclusion on Friday, Obama will travel to Hiroshima, where tens of thousands of Japanese were killed when a U.S. warplane dropped the world's first atomic bomb in 1945, hastening the end of World War Two.