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On October 9, in Costa Mesa, California, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada met with Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr., founding dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College. Dr. Carter is author of the book A Baptist Preacher’s Buddhist Teacher: How My Interfaith Journey With Daisaku Ikeda Made Me a Better Christian, which is based on exchanges he had with President Daisaku Ikeda in 2000 and 2002.

During the meeting, President Harada expressed the Soka Gakkai’s commitment to promoting interfaith dialogue in the pursuit of world peace, and Dr. Carter stressed the importance of global citizenship in today’s world. SGI General Director Yoshiki Tanigawa, SGI-USA General Director Adin Strauss and Soka University of America President Dr. Edward M. Feasel were also in attendance.

On October 11, SGI-USA held a general meeting in Oakland, California, bringing together some 800 members from across Northern California to commemorate the 65th anniversary of October 2, World Peace Day. On this day in 1960, President Daisaku Ikeda embarked on his first trip outside of Japan, visiting the US, Canada and Brazil to support the faith and Buddhist practice of Soka Gakkai members there.

The meeting was attended by Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada, SGI General Director Yoshiki Tanigawa and SGI-USA General Director Adin Strauss. The meeting included the screening of a commemorative video, a dance performance and a faith experience. In his closing speech, President Harada called for those present to work unitedly for a peaceful world.

On October 8, SGI-USA announced new leadership appointments: Monica Soto Ouchi as women’s leader, Donna Snyder as senior vice general director, Ron Goode and James Herrmann as vice general directors. 

On October 1, an exhibition titled “A Dialogue of Civilizations,” introducing the friendship and exchanges between former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid and President Daisaku Ikeda opened at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. Co-organized by the Wahid Foundation, the Gusdurian Network Indonesia and Soka Gakkai Indonesia, the exhibition is based on themes in their book The Wisdom of Tolerance: A Philosophy of Generosity and Peace. The opening was attended by former First Lady of Indonesia Sinta Nuriyah Wahid, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Pratikno, former University of Indonesia rector Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri, and Soka Gakkai Vice President Hirotsugu Terasaki.

On October 3, at the same venue, an interfaith peace forum on inter-civilizational dialogue as a path to world peace as advocated by President Ikeda was held. Participants included Mr. Terasaki, Vincentius Adi Prasojo, Archdiocese of Jakarta secretary, and Yenny Zannuba Wahid, director of the Wahid Foundation. Participants affirmed that true dialogue begins with respecting and listening to others. 

The forum was the first of nine to be held during the showing of the exhibition, which will be shown held at various venues, finishing at the Soka Gakkai Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta on November 7. The forums will explore the themes of tolerance and coexistence from diverse religious perspectives including Islam, Buddhism and Christianity.

On September 14, SGI-Philippines youth held their second Peace Fair, marking the 68th anniversary of second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda’s September 8, 1957, Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. Held in Manila, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, the events were attended by some 600 people.

The peace fair held at the SGI-Philippines Manila International Peace Center featured a lecture by Dr. Loreta Navarro-Castro, founding director of the Center for Peace Education at Miriam College, titled the “Reality of Nuclear Weapons Today: Why Should We Care?” In her lecture, she described nuclear weapons as the most inhumane and indiscriminate tools of destruction ever created. The exhibition “Everything You Treasure—For a World Free From Nuclear Weapons,” jointly created by the SGI (Soka Gakkai International) and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), was also on display at the venue.