480 people from 48 countries (including 186 from 49 high schools in Japan) participated in a two day summit to learn about and discuss the threats from earthquakes and tsunami and what can be done to prevent and mitigate their effects. During his remarks at the closing ceremony of the summit held in his hometown of Wakayama, Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, who advocated for and successfully achieved the adoption of "World Tsunami Awareness Day" (November 5) by the United Nations General Assembly, stated his expectations of the participants. He expects them to be the leaders who will build disaster-resilient countries and minimize tsunami damage. He said, "I want you to go back and tell as many people as possible about twhat you have learned here and use them to save lives."

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