The Finance Minister of Japan, Fukushiro Bukaga, at a press conference announced that a new 1000-yen Hokkaido commemorative coin is going to be issued on July of 2008. The issue will take place before the G8 summit, which this time will be held at Lake ToyaLake Toya in Hokkaido. It is worth mentioning that this is the first coin is an eight-year series that consists of 94 commemorative coins marking the "60th anniversary of the Local Autonomy Law".