The Words of the Kikuya Family
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The Words of the Kikuya Family |
UPF-Japan organized a commemorative event for the International Day of Peace in Tokyo September 30 on the theme of "Youth for Peace and Development." More than 50 people participated in this 39th Ambassadors for Peace meeting, a bimonthly seminar series of UPF-Japan.
In his opening address, Mr. Seiichi Kikuya, Secretary General of UPF-Japan, said, "After World War II, we verified the cause of that war and established the United Nations. However, we did not do this after the Cold War. We need to verify the cause of the Cold War in such depth so that we can find a fundamental solution to realize a world of lasting peace; this might lead to establishing another international institution." Then he explained the need for an inter-religious council, which was proposed in 2000 by the founder of UPF, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon.
Prof. Masahisa Hayashi, a professor at Waseda University and a member of UPF's Global Peace Council, gave the main speech on the theme, "The Mission of Youth in the Global Age." Pointing out the decreasing number of Japanese students who study abroad, he expressed concern about the introspective mindset of Japanese youths and emphasized the importance of going abroad and experiencing different cultures.
He also quoted from the teachings of The Great Learning by Confucius, "Cultivate personal virtue, rule the family, govern the state, and pacify the world," as a core precept and said, "A leader bears responsibility for people's well being."
After the main speech, Mr. Soichiro Kobayashi, a board member of the Redevelopment Council of the Adachi Ward in Tokyo, and Mr. Takatora Kobayashi, the representative of the Multicultural Co-existence Volunteer Group in the Mie Prefecture, gave reports on their activities.
Mr. Kobayashi pointed out that people are gathering to work together through cleaning projects and collecting garbage, and that this is becoming a solution to weakening of human relations. Mr. Kobayashi said, "Through having Japanese and foreign residents work together in cleaning projects, we are trying to form a culture of multi-ethnic coexistence in Japan."
Tokyo, Japan -- UPF-Japan and the Youth Federation for World Peace (YFWP) commemorated the International Day of Peace on September 19 by cleaning up the Wada-Nahama beach on the Miura peninsula of the Kanagawa prefecture.
On last year's International Day of Peace, the two organizations also co-hosted a cleanup project at the Wada-Nahama beach.
The theme of this year's International Day of Peace was "Youth, Peace and Development" and the Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon called upon youth around the world to organize projects for peace during the 100-day countdown until the International Day of Peace. The cleanup project was held in concert with this call.
With the participation of the members of the Association to Protect the Nature of Wada-Nahama Beach, around 60 people participated in the project, which started at 9:00 in the morning. On the day before the project, the YFWP and UPF-Japan called on people around the Misakiguchi station of the Keikyu Line to join the project. Thanks to this, additional participants such as girl students from local schools also took part in the project. The "Peace Rangers," the YFWP characters for the cleanup project, attracted the attention of the tourists who came to enjoy bathing on the beach.
Before starting the cleaning project, Deputy Secretary General of UPF-Japan Mr. Shunsuke Uotani explained the meaning of the International Day of Peace and conveyed the message of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. The cleanup was carried out under the supervision of the Kanagawa Coastal Environmental Foundation and the trash collected was separated into seven types according to the guidelines of Miura city: (1) general waste, (2) landfills, (3) bottles, (4) plastic bottles, (5) iron, (6) wood, and (7) explosives (spray cans and lighters, etc.).
The Wada-Nahama beach is a famous bathing spot, but nails and pegs left from torn-down seaside house or jagged shards of beer bottles were buried in the sand and bulk trash such as motorboat engines were left abandoned on the shore.
On September 30 UPF-Japan is hosting an Ambassadors for Peace meeting in Tokyo on the theme of the Mission of Youth to Lead the Global Age.