From 19–20 August 2023, the Soka Gakkai Youth Division in Japan held the 32nd Youth Summit on the Renunciation of War in Okinawa. Annually since 1989, the youth summit has met to share peace activities in respective parts of Japan and to exchange views for peacebuilding among youth delegates across the country.

On the first day, the youth delegates visited a cave in Yomitan Village, known as Chibi Chiri Gama, where the initial attack took place during the Battle of Okinawa in the final days of World War II. Fearing capture by U.S. soldiers, more than 80 residents killed themselves in the cave. By seeing the cave with their own eyes, the youth members formed a connection to the tragic history and prayed for the innocent residents who lost their lives during the battle.

The youth delegates also visited the Okinawa World Peace Monument at the Soka Gakkai Okinawa Training Center in Onna Village, which was one of the four U.S. Mace B missile launch sites during the U.S. occupation. During a visit to the site, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda suggested preserving it as a historical reminder of humanity’s foolish obsession with war and making the training center a symbol of world peace. With the strong wish and determination of turning the site into a base for transmitting the message of peace to the world, the training center was opened in 1977.

After visiting the two historical sites, the youth delegates participated in the summit held at the Soka Gakkai Okinawa International Peace Center. The representatives from Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Okinawa and the Kansai regions introduced their peace activities within their respective areas. The Student Division members reported the results of the awareness survey on the issue of nuclear weapons, which they conducted during the summer of 2023.

On the morning of the second day, the youth delegates visited the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City, the last and bloodiest site of the Battle of Okinawa. The youth members laid a wreath at the Cornerstone of Peace memorial. Lastly, they listened to Hiromi Onabe, a staff member at the Himeyuri Peace Museum, share the war testimony of Kikuko Miyagi, who was drafted into the Himeyuri Student Corps at the age of sixteen and worked as a military nurse.

Soka Gakkai Youth Peace Conference Chair Shuichi Minami stated, “While visiting the actual site of the Battle of Okinawa and engaging all my senses in the learning process, I keenly realized the unhappiness of not knowing the truth and the fear of ignorance. Learning from the truths of history, taking concrete actions for peace in the present, and passing on the principles of non-violence to the next generation are the responsibilities entrusted to us, who are living in the present.

Within the Soka Gakkai, peace activities are carried out with the purpose of inheriting the vow for the renunciation of war. This includes young people conducting interviews with survivors, inviting survivors as guest lecturers for peace-related discussion meetings, and actively promoting intergenerational exchanges. Following President Ikeda's initiatives for peace, we aim to expand solidarity from the grassroots.”