From 13 June to 13 September 2026, the Soka Gakkai held the exhibition “No More War! Ikusa ya naran do—A Message from Okinawa” at the Soka Bunka Center in Tokyo, Japan. (Ikusa ya naran do is an Okinawan phrase that translates to “We must never allow war.”)           

Okinawa was the site of the largest ground battle in Japan during World War II, during which approximately as many as one in four residents lost their lives. In 1981, Soka Gakkai Okinawa youth members began collecting paintings by survivors, which capture lived memories from a civilian perspective. Out of around 700 works that were gathered, the exhibition displayed 50 selected pieces alongside panels on the history of the Battle of Okinawa. 

The paintings have also been loaned to more than 200 elementary, junior high and high schools throughout Okinawa Prefecture, supporting peace education for students. Soka Gakkai youth members in Japan have also introduced a new learning activity called “Photo Language,” in which participants view the paintings, imagine the scene and how the people depicted may have felt and then share their impressions—encouraging new insights and deeper dialogue.