Together, Transforming the Destiny of Humankind

In preparation for this training course and your visit to Japan, I understand you have made extraordinary efforts in numerous ways, like taking the lead in propagation and encouraging members to sign the SGI-USA “Commitment to Peace” pledge. 

As we celebrate our efforts together over the course of these next six days, I hope we can each make a vow for worldwide kosen-rufu to our mentor with the spirit that “I am Shin’ichi Yamamoto.”^[1] During this training course, let’s create a foundation for lifelong faith!

Today, you will be going to the Hall of the Great Vow for Kosen-rufu to conduct gongyo and will then visit various sites around the Soka Gakkai Headquarters. In the evening, you’ll also have an exchange meeting with Tokyo youth. 

Tomorrow, after attending a guidance session with SGI General Director Yoshiki Tanigawa, you will travel to various communities in the Chugoku region, attending exchange meetings on March 21 and taking part in a peace course and the Japan–U.S. Youth Peace General Meeting on March 22. The local hosts of each event are eagerly awaiting your arrival with the spirit of treasuring this once-in-a-lifetime encounter with you!

I’m certain that you will spread hope and courage to many people through your visit to the atomic bombing site in Hiroshima—described as the birthplace of the Japanese peace movement.

Once, on a visit to Hiroshima, Sensei referred to the city as representing “a universal pledge of all humanity never to engage in nuclear war again.”^[2] Inheriting the will of his mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, who issued the Declaration for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, Sensei embarked on a struggle for peace.

We are firmly convinced that, now more than ever, youth who unite and transcend national borders represent the hope for breaking through the crises plaguing our turbulent world. Thus, as youth of Japan and the U.S., we have a mission to boldly take on the unprecedented challenge of engaging in dialogue and sharing Buddhism with countless people based on the conviction that our movement of human revolution is the genuine road to peace.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Sensei’s 27th and final visit to America. On that occasion, he engaged in various activities, including receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Denver; delivering a lecture at Teachers College, Columbia University titled “Thoughts on Education for Global Citizenship”; and visiting the U.N. Headquarters. 

He also seized every available moment to pour his entire life into each encounter he had with SGI-USA members, offering guidance and encouragement. Doing gongyo and chanting with members, he affirmed that “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest of all joys.”^[3] And praising them for their relentless efforts amid the turbulent currents of American society, he declared that “Buddhism is reason,”^[4] teaching them to walk the direct path to victory in life.

Against this backdrop, traveling as a private citizen on a mission for peace, he visited Cuba, a nation that had become increasingly isolated from the world after the end of the Cold War. By initiating exchanges in the fields of culture and education, he set in motion a process that subsequently accelerated the restoration of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the U.S. 

At the very same time, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was adopted at the U.N. Headquarters. Indeed, 1996 can be described as a year in which Sensei launched a struggle for peace from the United States.

Turning to the present, we, his successors, are resolved to boldly take on the unprecedented challenge of sharing Buddhism through talking with as many people as possible. As we advance toward 2029, the sixth memorial of his passing, and 2030, the centennial of the Soka Gakkai’s founding, let’s continue in our efforts for the sake of “transforming the destiny of humankind”—a mission entrusted to us by Sensei—in pursuit of world peace!

Awaiting us are many challenges to overcome, such as divisiveness in society and changes in people’s lifestyles. That’s why now is the time to make our mentor’s way of life our model and transform walls of adversity into springboards for growth, taking action to absolutely achieve kosen-rufu with earnest resolve.

Recalling the passage “If the spirit of many in body but one in mind prevails among the people, they will achieve all their goals,”^[5] let’s share our great passion for kosen-rufu and, starting from this training course in Japan, set in motion a new era of kosen-rufu and a youth-driven effort to further open the path to peace!

May 15, 2026 World Tribune, p. 3