Courtesy of Kyodo NewsAmbassador Nobuo Matsunaga, former chair of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, passed away on Dec. 1, 2011, at the age of 88.

He was a good friend and colleague of mine both in the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), two important regional institutions for the Asia Pacific, one for economic cooperation and the other for political security cooperation. Both are Track Two regional institutions and Japan was instrumental in their establishment.

The PECC commenced with the Japan committee that was established by Prime Minister Ohira and Foreign Minister Saburo Okita. When ASEAN took the initiative to set up the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Japan strongly supported it, and Japan’s role was critical in making the US accept ARF as complimentary to US alliances with Japa...