At the 18th GRIPS Forum GRIPS invited Dr. Hiroshi Hirabayashi, Former Ambassador of Japan to India and France, to deliver a lecture on "Top Diplomacy and the Decision-Making Process in Foreign Policy". Dr. Hirabayashi, who served at key posts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Prime Minister's Cabinet Secretariat, thus with rich first-hand experience in supporting top diplomacy, described what "top diplomacy“; entails; what is required of the head of the state; and successful and problematic top diplomacies in the past. Dr. Hirabayashiandrsquo;s opinion born from experience together with various inside stories made the lecture lively and interesting.