SGI-USA Washington, D.C. Buddhist Center

When the SGI-USA Washington, D.C., Buddhist Center opened on June 25, 2008, it was coined the “SGI Embassy” for its location among the stately foreign embassies that line Massachusetts Avenue on Embassy Row.

SGI Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda traveled to the U.S. to officiate the opening ceremony on behalf of Ikeda Sensei, who in a message referred to the new center as a crystallization of the noble faith and many years of effort exerted by SGI members, calling it “the gateway to the world.”

During the ceremony, U.S. Congressman Henry “Hank” Johnson, of Georgia, read a message of congratulations addressed to Sensei by the U.S. Speaker of the House, which read in part: “We welcome this new citadel of peace to our nation’s capital, with the hope and expectation that it will support and promote your nonviolent philosophy of fulfilled human potential and security for all.”^[1]

Hiromasa Ikeda in a keynote speech said that the economic and political events that take place in Washington, D.C., are of great interest and import to the entire world. And he called on local members to become “SGI envoys” to the world, assuring them that their prayers would penetrate the surrounding embassies and that the new center would serve as the “SGI Embassy” for members around the world.

Every spring, the members enjoy the brilliant blossoming of cherry trees that flank the entrance to the center, planted at the opening in honor Sensei and Mrs. Ikeda.