This group of eight training course participants began their day with a short visit to the Hiroshima Culture Center. They then traveled to the culture centers in Asaminami and Asakita wards where they were welcomed with enormous enthusiasm by the local members.
Their exchange meeting at the Asaminami Culture Center began with a vibrant display of Japanese culture. Participants were dressed in traditional festival attire and engaged in a mochi-pounding ceremony. An experience from a local member followed, where she shared how her grandmother was a hibakusha. Through faith, her family has developed a strong fighting spirit for peace.
Prior to the meeting at the Asakita Culture Center, members hosted a festival. Participants got to play Japanese festival games and learn traditional dances. Performances kicked off the exchange meeting; the women’s division chorus group sang “Mother,” and the future division members sang and danced to “Be Brave,” the elementary school division song.
In both meetings, the group recited a poem they had written together. They then sang the SGI-USA song “A Revolution in You,” which stands as an anthem calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
After the Asakita exchange, the youth joined small-group dialogues with guests brought by local members. In one group, a guest said that although he had been attending Soka Gakkai meetings, he was not interested in becoming a member because he did not feel he was facing any particular struggles. A SGI-USA youth member responded that, because he lives in Hiroshima, he has a mission to chant for peace. This inspired the guest.
Following the exchanges, everyone left with a deeper understanding of and commitment to the shared pledge of SGI members to abolish nuclear weapons and the fundamental ignorance that permits humankind to entertain their use. From both sides there was an effort to encourage one another and join together as disciples of Ikeda Sensei.
Never Giving Up on My Friends
Akshat Malik Boston
I was overwhelmed by the warm welcome we received at the centers we visited in Hiroshima. The members’ cheers were so enthusiastic that we could hear them before we could see them. And even though we had never met, their welcome felt as though we had deep bonds from previous lifetimes.
In the discussion groups that followed the cultural exchanges, I was inspired by the spirit of the Many Treasures Group members who have continued to have Buddhist dialogues with their friends over the course of many years. One brought a friend whom she has been sharing Buddhism with for 10 years! It taught me that I should never give up on my friends and that I should continue to embrace them based on a wish for their absolute happiness.
Visiting Hiroshima and hearing the testimony of a nuclear bomb survivor filled me with a deep determination to fight for peace. Although the world is deeply polarized, it is up to us as the youth of America to create change at the grassroots level through dialogue and by fostering peace in people’s hearts. I want to have more dialogues to understand why there is so much hate in society. Furthermore, I’m excited to try new things in our organization to make Buddhism more accessible to youth in our community!
Returning Home With a Deeper Vow
Emily Kang Seattle
At a Hiroshima exchange meeting, I met three longtime members who had each overcome cancer and were now introducing their friends to Buddhism. I was deeply moved by how they had transformed their health karma through faith and were doing their best to help others become happy. I felt the profound mission for peace embodied by the members there.
Spending three of the five training course days in Hiroshima, in fact, became a prime point, where I determined to deepen my faith. At the Asaminami Culture Center, I listened to an experience from a second-generation atomic bomb survivor whose life is filled with joy. Seeing how happy the members were became a powerful reminder for me that this Buddhism enables people to win over any hardship.
I returned home with two key determinations. First, as a disciple, I will take full responsibility for contributing to the abolition of nuclear weapons by engaging in dialogue and sharing Buddhism throughout my life. Second, I will never complain but instead appreciate every challenge and strive to report victory to my mentor.
I am determined to go all-in for kosen-rufu and build a life of continuous victory together with my friends.
May 15, 2026 World Tribune, pp. 12–13
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