CategoryGlobal Efforts for Peace

On August 6, some 280 Student Division members from 20 countries across Europe joined an online summer course. The daylong course featured a faith experience by a Soka Gakkai member from Switzerland, encouragement from senior SGI Europe leaders and a study presentation on second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda’s Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons.

From August 1 to 26, the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is being held in New York. On August 4, the SGI cosponsored a side event titled “Avoiding Nuclear War: What Short-Term Steps Can be Taken?” with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of

On August 4, the SGI (Soka Gakkai International) cosponsored a panel discussion titled “Avoiding Nuclear War: what short-term steps can be taken?” during the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), held from August 1 to 26 in New York. The event was organized together with the Permanent

On July 29, the Soka Gakkai affiliated Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue held its first in-person Dialogue Nights event since the pandemic on the theme “Revitalizing Our Relationships: What Does That Look Like Now?” Some 30 university students and young professionals discussed pandemic-related concerns and how to build and maintain healthy relationships. Read more here.

On July 27, the Soka Institute of the Amazon hosted an event focusing on digitalization as a path to sustainability. The hybrid event brought together 200 participants from the Amazonas Hub of the UN Global Compact. Dr. Oscar Kenjiro Asakura, an expert on the Brazilian General Data Protection Act, stressed that digitalization can help minimize the use

From late July to early August, a series of events were held in Japan to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On July 24, the Soka Gakkai Youth Division in Hiroshima hosted an event where youth and future division members visited the Peace Memorial Park. On August 6, in

On July 17, a new Korea SGI (KSGI) center opened in Pohang City in North Gyeongsang Province. KSGI members and guests attended the opening ceremony during which Pohang City Mayor Lee Kang-deok commended President Daisaku Ikeda and KSGI members for contributing to peace in the world.

On July 16, the Soka Gakkai affiliated Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue held the 2022 Global Citizens Seminar in which seven doctoral students are engaging over two seminars in a collaborative project based on President Daisaku Ikeda‘s 2022 peace proposal, “Transforming Human History: The Light of Peace and Dignity,” together with Dr. Jason Goulah of DePaul

On July 10, over 2,000 Soka Gakkai Malaysia members, including youth, took an elementary-level Buddhist study exam at 41 venues across the country. The exam took place for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic.

From July 5 to 15, the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2022 was held in New York. On July 7, Ivy Koek of the SGI Office for UN Affairs moderated an online side event titled “Dispelling Misconceptions and Myths: Faith Actors Advancing Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls,” organized by

On June 30, the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Argentina invited various religious organizations to an interfaith dialogue event held at the Kirchner Culture Center in Buenos Aires. Representing SGI-Argentina (SGIAR), youth members Ariel Ospitaleche, Paula López and Lucía Puchini joined the event.

On June 29, Soka Gakkai’s Seikyo Shimbun newspaper announced that volume 5 of the traditional Chinese edition of The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin has been published by the Soka Cultural and Educational Foundation of Taiwan Soka Association. The book contains 93 of Nichiren’s writings and shows Classical Chinese text alongside vernacular Chinese.   

On June 26, SGI-Netherlands opened the Ikeda Friendship and Peace Center in Amsterdam, which will serve as the main center for the organization. Some five hundred members attended the opening ceremony both in person and online. President Daisaku Ikeda sent a congratulatory message encouraging members to further contribute to the local community as good citizens. 

On June 26, Soka Gakkai Italy held an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the opening of its culture center in Florence. It brought together members, community leaders and faith representatives, including the president of the Regional Council of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, and Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, the Catholic Archbishop of Florence. Youth members presented a

On June 24, following the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the Soka Gakkai affiliated Toda Peace Institute held a workshop on nuclear disarmament co-organized with the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP). Held at VCDNP, the workshop brought together experts from the 1MSP, including Ambassador

On June 21, during the Fifth Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe) in Bologna, Italy, a panel discussion titled “Soka Gakkai’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament: Origins, Scope, and Future” was held. Dr. Enza Pellecchia of the University of Pisa and Dr. Massimo Introvigne, founder of the Center for Studies on New Religions

On June 19, youth members of the Soka Movement in France held an online symposium with some 1,000 participants commemorating June 14, the anniversary of the establishment of the organization’s youth division. A panel discussion was held between Alexandra Masako Goossens-Ishii of the SGI Office for UN Affairs, Frédérique Kaba of the Fondation Abbé Pierre

On June 18 and 19, an SGI (Soka Gakkai International) delegation led by Hirotsugu Terasaki, director general for peace and global issues for the SGI, attended the ICAN Nuclear Ban Forum in Vienna, Austria. On June 20, the delegation also participated in the 2022 Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons (HINW22Vienna) in the Austria

On June 17, Vice Chair of SGI Europe Robert Harrap attended an event in Rome, Italy, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the key Club of Rome report the Limits to Growth that was published in 1972. Four panel discussions were held under the overall theme “Enlightened leadership: Navigating the human predicament in the 21st century.” Mr.

On June 11, Korea SGI (KSGI) launched the exhibition “The Lotus Sutra—A Message of Peace and Harmonious Coexistence,” created by the Soka Gakkai affiliated Institute of Oriental Philosophy. The exhibition is being shown at KSGI’s culture center in Suseong-gu, Daegu. Some 160 KSGI members and guests attended the opening ceremony. The exhibition will run until September