THE G7 summit will dominate the news agenda when world leaders gather in Japan at the end of the month, especially now Barack Obama has confirmed he will become the first serving US President to visit Hiroshima during his stay.

That gesture has already guaranteed the success of the event in the eyes of the Japanese, who have welcomed America's recognition of – if not apology for – the terrible suffering endured by tens of thousands of civilians.

At the conference itself, the G7 countries will have their usual discussion about trade and the state of the global economy. They will also consider the threats posed by terrorism and voice their concerns over expansionist foreign policies being pursued by China and Russia.

For a few days, the eyes of the world will be on Japan and behind the scenes the government is doing exactly what the Scottish Government did when the then-G8 was held at Gleneagles a decade ago: ensuring the country cashes in on the opportunity.

I've spent the past week in Mie prefecture, the area that will be hosting the summit, as officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have shown a group of journalists around some amazing places in an effort to promote a slightly obscure corner of the country.

The summit is being held at a Shinto shrine complex three hours south-west of Tokyo by bullet train, where the same rituals have been performed quietly and largely unnoticed by the rest of the world for the last 1200 years.

But this charm offensive designed to make Ise Shima known to the wider world has also revealed how many of the challenges facing Japan have echoes closer to home.

We were taken to a small island called Toshijima, a 30-minute ferry trip from the mainland. A few years ago it was facing an uncertain future as its young people drifted away to the cities and its main industry, fishing, became the preserve of an increasingly elderly workforce.

The island is beginning to thrive again thanks to a canny mixture of modern marketing and ancient tradition

The islanders have made a name for themselves by conserving the fish and shellfish stocks they own, so much so the Toshijima brand can now command prices 30 per cent higher than catches from other parts of Japan.

Good jobs are bringing young people back to the island. But some islanders also put their success down to a centuries-old custom known as "neyako", in which teenage boys are mentored by carefully chosen foster families. Dating back to Samurai times and once common across Japan, Toshijima is the last place where it is practised. It builds a sense of community and close bonds between families, islanders say. It also adds a little to the mystique of the brand.

It's a very Japanese story. But the pressures faced by the islanders would be familiar 6,000 miles away among Scotland's island communities.

Other traditional ways of life are also being reinvented for the 21st century as, just like Scotland, Japan learns new tricks to turn ancient industries into valuable parts of the economy.

Craftsman Tadashi Ito is hoping to emulate the success of the weavers and entrepreneurs who revived Harris Tweed a few years back.

His is one of only four remaining firms that produce the traditional blocks of black ink used in Japanese calligraphy. The process is an 800-year-old alchemy of pine wood soot from charred fire trees, glue and many years of patient drying, and the final product a thing of rare beauty.

He cannot un-invent the ballpoint pen, he told us ruefully, but he can diversify. His inks are now being used as pigments in fashion designs and even as a food colouring.

We moved on to a small engineering firm making precision machine tools. Its boss, a charismatic woman called Keiko Nishioka, made an eloquent speech about her company's philosophy.

She spoke of "sustainable growth" – of the need for more research, more exporting and achieving a more gender-balanced and diverse workforce. Much of what she said could have been lifted from the Scottish Government's economic strategy.

When the G7 leaders discuss health, child care and infrastructure, their concerns will be same as those aired at Holyrood on a daily basis.

Japan could not be more different from Scotland in so many ways. But as it prepares to welcome the world, it is fascinating to see it tackling so many of the same problems.