The following is a summary of a message by Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada, issued on Aug. 1, 2025, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
TOKYO—Minoru Harada, president of the Soka Gakkai, issued a statement on Aug. 1, 2025, marking 80 years since the end of World War II. Titled “Creating a Wave of Change Toward a Century Without War,” it clarified the Buddhist organization’s ongoing commitment to peace.
President Harada’s statement is grounded in the determination that no one on this planet should have to endure the horrors of war. Sharing his own wartime experiences of the terror of the firebombing of Tokyo, he expressed condolences for those killed in war and regret for the suffering caused by the Japanese military during World War II.
“As a Japanese citizen, I once again firmly pledge to continue working to build peace not only in the Asia-Pacific region, where Japan’s past actions caused immense devastation and suffering, but also throughout the world, guided by deep reflection on this history,” President Harada said.
The Soka Gakkai president stressed that concern for the suffering of innocent civilians underpins the Soka Gakkai’s commitment to peace. The same concern motivated the many peace-building initiatives of his mentor, Ikeda Sensei, who visited Asian countries devastated by Japanese brutality, spearheaded efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons, and submitted annual peace proposals over a 40-year period.
President Harada expressed grave concern about the ongoing conflicts and calamitous situations in Ukraine and Gaza, and called for persistent diplomatic efforts to achieve genuine ceasefires. He expressed lament that the 80-year-old goal of the Charter of the United Nations—freeing the world from the scourge of war—had not yet been achieved and urged adherence to international humanitarian law. He also proposed galvanizing public opinion toward the prohibition and abolition of nuclear weapons.
President Harada concluded his message by outlining three key commitments by the Soka Gakkai:
• First, ongoing youth exchanges, in line with the organization’s long track record of promoting grassroots exchanges with neighboring countries in Asia, including China and South Korea. “We firmly believe that friendships forged by the youth of the next generation will serve as the most powerful foundation for a bulwark against war,” he wrote.
• Second, the Soka Gakkai president confirmed the commitment to continued engagement in interfaith dialogue of the Soka Gakkai and the SGI.
• And third, he urged the expansion of global solidarity and commitment to ongoing support for U.N.-centered efforts to address issues such as human rights and climate change.
“Now, more than ever, the international community must transition from an era characterized by increasing mutual mistrust leading to military buildup to one in which nations work together to tackle common threats and challenges facing humanity,” he added. “By steadily advancing such efforts, the path toward a century defined by the renunciation of war will inevitably come into clear view.”
—Adapted from sokaglobal.org
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