Symposium on Nuclear Abolition Co-organized by SGI and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Honors Legacies of David Krieger and Daisaku Ikeda
On August 23 and 24,
2025, the SGI (Soka Gakkai International), together with the Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation (NAPF), organized the Choose Hope Symposium at the International
Conference Center Hiroshima, building on the first Choose Hope Symposium held in
Santa Barbara, USA, in March.
Both symposiums honored the enduring legacies of David Krieger (1942–2023) and Daisaku Ikeda (1928–2023), both lifelong advocates for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Dr. Krieger, co-founder and president emeritus of NAPF, devoted his life to building public awareness and action for a world free of nuclear weapons. Mr. Ikeda, third president of the Soka Gakkai and founding president of SGI, advanced numerous proposals for nuclear disarmament to the international community. Both leaders worked in solidarity with like-minded individuals and organizations, and after the two finally met in 1997, their encounter culminated in the dialogue Choose Hope: Your Role in Waging Peace in the Nuclear Age.
Prior to the workshop, participants laid flowers at the Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, offering prayers for a world free of nuclear weapons.
On the first
day of the Hiroshima Choose Hope Symposium, Soka Gakkai members from Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, representatives of the SGI, NAPF and other organizations held an
interactive workshop. NAPF President Ivana Nikolić Hughes encouraged participants to take the
opportunity to translate the resolve for nuclear abolition into concrete action
while “choosing hope no matter how difficult the situation.” Discussions
focused on key areas of action identified in the March 2025 Choose Hope
Symposium Declaration, including challenging the security paradigm of nuclear
deterrence, addressing the intersection of nuclear abolition and the
environmental crisis, and the role of youth.
The second
day featured a public event titled “Choose Hope in Hiroshima: Renewing Our
Commitment for a Future Without Nuclear Weapons,” supported by Mayors for
Peace, the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and the UNITAR
Association. A video titled Choose Hope—David Krieger and Daisaku Ikeda was screened, highlighting themes
from their dialogue. The keynote address was given by Annie Jacobsen,
investigative journalist and author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, who
stressed that the tragedies of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
remain as an urgent warning for humanity. Second generation hibakusha Mariko
Higashino encouraged those present, urging, “I would be grateful if you would
think about what you can do as individuals from here on to create a peaceful
world.”
Two panel
discussions further explored pathways to nuclear abolition and lessons for
building a peaceful future. Speakers included experts from NAPF, SGI and
partner organizations, as well as youth representatives.
The symposium
closed with participants reaffirming the urgency of eliminating nuclear weapons
and the shared determination to work for a peaceful future.
A panel discussion on pathways to nuclear abolition was held on day two of the symposium
[Adapted from articles in the September 24 and 25, 2025, issues of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan]
