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SGI News: Global activities for peace, education and culture

Action for Nuclear Abolition

Items from the Hiroshima Peace Museum on display at the Soka Gakkai Hiroshima Peace Center [© Seikyo Shimbun]

SGI organizations around the world have been taking part in activities to raise awareness about the necessity for nuclear abolition in the run-up to the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference to be held in New York in May. In the months of January and February this year, Soka Gakkai youth in Japan hosted a series of lectures and events to support this effort.

In Hiroshima, the exhibition "From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit" opened at the Soka Gakkai Hiroshima Peace Center on January 22. On view along with the exhibition panels were items recovered from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Guests at the opening ceremony included Mr. Hur Duck-haeng, Consul-General of the Republic of Korea in Hiroshima, and Dr. Shizuteru Usui, president of Japanese Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

Soka Gakkai youth members also organized one of a series of peace lectures at the Josei Toda International Center in Tokyo on February 1, titled "Toward Nuclear Abolition: Now Is the Time to Stand Up for Peace." The guest lecturer for the event was Keiko Nakamura, secretary-general of Peace Depot, an NGO specializing in peace research and education. Ms. Nakamura noted that nuclear weapons issues are not simply a matter of international politics but a question of concern and contemplation for every citizen. She emphasized that aiming to get rid of all nuclear weapons is not enough, but that what is necessary is to create a broad understanding that nuclear weapons do not offer security.

On February 8, Soka Gakkai youth members in Nagasaki hosted a lecture by Dr. David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. In his talk, titled "A Message to Youth: Live to Your Full Capacity and Save the Planet," Dr. Krieger stressed that as long as people continue to live under the threat of nuclear weapons, human security cannot be guaranteed. In 2002, Dr. Krieger and SGI President Ikeda published a compilation of their dialogues titled Choose Hope: Your Role in Waging Peace in the Nuclear Age. Making reference to his collaboration with Mr. Ikeda, Dr. Krieger said, "We espoused the principle of choosing hope, rather than succumbing to ignorance, apathy or despair. Hope gives rise to action, and action, in turn, gives rise to hope. Our shared hope includes the goal of building a more peaceful world, free of nuclear weapons--a daunting but essential goal. I stand with Daisaku Ikeda in choosing hope. I'm sure that you stand with him as well."

Soka Gakkai youth throughout Japan have been conducting a petition campaign calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Signatures will be presented during the NPT Review Conference in May.

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