WASHINGTON, D.C.—More than 175 parents, children, grandparents and guests from across the Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland regions gathered at Rock Creek Park on Sept. 13 for the Mid-Atlantic Zone Soka Family Day gathering. The back-to-school celebration, themed “Walking in the Footsteps of Sensei,” brought generations together for a day of games, sports, arts and crafts, face painting and a potluck lunch.
The program welcomed mini-treasures (kids under 5 years old) and kindergartners entering the Future Division with certificates and gifts. Participants also created appreciation cards, while children wrote down their aspirations for the future. One elementary school student wrote, “My dream is to be a doctor. So I can help people.”
The gathering commemorated Ikeda Sensei’s visit to Washington 54 years earlier. On May 16, 1972, during his second visit to the nation’s capital, Sensei traveled to Rock Creek Park after attending a meeting at the area’s original SGI-USA Buddhist center in Mount Rainier, Maryland. Along the way, he stopped to buy watermelons and fresh fruit for the members.
At the park, Sensei had lunch with members who had supported his stay. He and Mrs. Ikeda gathered yellow wildflowers and took instant photographs to give to them. Upon returning to the center, he presented the fruit and flowers to those who had been supporting behind the scenes.
Naoko Leslie, SGI-USA’s vice women’s leader, shared the story with participants, emphasizing Sensei’s spirit of gratitude toward those working behind the scenes. Fifty-four years after his visit, the spirit of care, connection and joy that Sensei demonstrated that day remains strong throughout the Mid-Atlantic Zone.
October 9, 2026 World Tribune, p. 9
October 9, 2026 World Tribune, pp. 6–7
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