[2] The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.

[3] The G8 summits during the 21st century have inspired widespread debates, protests, and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues, and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.

[4] In conjunction with Kyushu-Okinawa summit, a Canadian team played the local Haebaru Dragonfires in a friendly.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien skated in the pre-game warm-up and performed the ceremonial puck drop.

As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions.