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SGI News: Global activities for peace, education and culture

SGI President Awarded 200th Academic Honor

[©Seikyo Shimbun]

In a ceremony at Soka University, Tokyo, on October 7, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda was awarded an honorary professorship from Beijing Normal University, bringing to 200 the number of honorary doctorates, professorships and equivalent honors given in recognition of his efforts to promote peace through dialogue, citizen diplomacy and cross-cultural exchange.

Established in 1902, Beijing Normal University is China's oldest teacher training university. In conferring the honorary professorship, the university's highest accolade, Vice President Ge Jianping paid tribute to Mr. Ikeda's efforts to promote Sino-Japanese friendship and humanistic education. He also mentioned that Mr. Ikeda's pioneering educational ideas are now the focus of scholarly research in China.

In his acceptance speech Mr. Ikeda called for the strengthening of joint efforts by China and Japan toward protection of the environment as one way of improving relations. He urged the two governments to develop a comprehensive environmental partnership which could benefit the whole of Asia over the next 100 years. This would feature the sharing of technology, skills and human resources in order to address issues such as pollution prevention, energy efficiency and environmental education.

Daisaku Ikeda (facing the camera, second from right) with officials of Moscow State University on the occasion of receiving his first honorary doctorate, in May 1975; as founder of Soka University he has made efforts to create a broad network of educational exchange  [©Seikyo Shimbun]

The SGI president also commented, "I regard today's honor as a symbol of trust in the members of the SGI around the world. I am determined once again to dedicate myself to the construction of world peace and the further promotion of culture and education."

Chinese Minister of Education Zhou Ji sent a congratulatory message stating, "President Ikeda is an old and treasured friend of all the Chinese people who has continuously contributed to Sino-Japanese friendship and educational exchange."

To date, a total of 67 universities in China have awarded honorary doctorates or professorships to Mr. Ikeda.

He has repeatedly expressed the view that Japan must work to earn the trust of the countries of Asia which suffered the brutal effects of Japan's militarism during World War II, and was an early proponent of normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. He has initiated numerous cultural and educational exchanges as bridges of peace between the two countries.

Mr. Ikeda, founder of Soka University, was awarded the first of his 200 academic honors, an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University, in 1975. Since then he has received similar recognitions from universities and academic institutions in 42 countries, including Peking University, the University of Glasgow, the University of Denver, Ankara University, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the University of Delhi, the University of Sydney and the University of Ghana.

In citations related to such academic honors, Mr. Ikeda is acknowledged as a leading peacebuilder, a champion of dialogue and as the founder of institutions to promote peace, cultural and educational exchange, as well as for his efforts to promote education as a way of enhancing cross-cultural understanding and peace.

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