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Daisaku Ikeda
For Daisaku Ikeda's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2017
Ban treaty offers chance for a world free of nuclear arms
Nearly 130 states are participating in U.N. negotiations to prohibit nuclear weapons, but nuclear-weapons states and nuclear-dependent states, including Japan, are not among their number.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 28, 2017
Time for a treaty to bring an end to nuclear danger
Japan should play an active role in building consensus in the negotiations toward the conclusion of a nuclear weapons treaty starting in late March.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2016
Empathy key to human rights
"The heart of all discussions of human rights is the battle against discrimination. All human beings are equal. No discrimination is permissible. Absolutely none."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 6, 2016
Moral imperative of ridding the world of nuclear arms
Many countries have started to advance toward the shared goal of a world free from nuclear weapons. What is needed now is to breathe new energizing life into that vision.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2015
Action at grass-roots level vital to success of COP21
Shared concern and empathetic openness to the suffering of others holds the key to fighting climate change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 5, 2015
Calling for an early Japan-China-South Korea summit
The president of Soka Gakkai International urges Japan to renew its pledge to build lasting peace, strengthen cooperation in addressing environmental problems, and step up efforts to contribute to stability and development throughout Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2014
A chain reaction of empowerment
More than anything, the world needs people who will take active steps to transform their own local community when it comes to dealing with any of the bewildering array of threats confronting humanity today.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2014
East Asia should build resilience through disaster-relief cooperation
The president of Soka Gakkai International urges Japan, China and South Korea to take the initiative in building a model of cooperation that will serve to mutually strengthen regional resilience to extreme-weather events and other disasters.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2013
China and Japan: vital ties
Japan and China should reconfirm pledges made in the 1978 friendship treaty and set up a forum for dialogue to prevent ties from declining further.
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2011
Learning about dignity
On Dec. 19 the United Nations General Assembly, meeting in New York, adopted a historic new U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2011
The courage to rebuild
"The journey of life is not smooth and unimpeded, but may be fraught with difficulties exceeding our worst nightmares," observed Kan' ichi Asakawa (1873-1948), a historian and peace advocate originally from Fukushima Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2011
Civil society must push nuke ban
Last year, important international conferences were held to tackle such pressing global challenges as climate change and nuclear disarmament. While these conferences saw the emergence of constructive new consensus, it is not enough simply to sound the alarm: The time has come for action and solidarity.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2010
Steps toward nuke-free world
In recent years there has been a growing chorus of calls for a world free from nuclear weapons. The Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference scheduled for this May will be a crucial test of the international community's ability to unite toward this goal.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2009
Global solidarity to denuclearize
If nuclear weapons epitomize the forces that would divide and destroy the world, they can only be overcome by the solidarity of ordinary citizens. This solidarity has the power to make hope an irresistible force transforming history.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2008
Say no to nukes in the Arctic
"The Arctic is the barometer of the globe's environmental health. You can take the pulse of the world in the Arctic. Inuit, the people who live farther north than anyone else, are the canary in the global coal mine.''
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2007
Transforming our way of living
This year, the Doomsday Clock devised by the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was advanced two minutes, for the first time in five years. It now stands at 11:55 p.m., just five minutes away from the "midnight" of human annihilation. This change not only reflects last year's nuclear test by North Korea and uncertainties regarding Iran's nuclear development goals; it is also a reflection of the impact of environmental degradation and climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2007
Realizing the potential of an aging society
Japanese society stands on the cusp of change. Starting from this year, large numbers of the postwar baby-boom generation will reach retirement age -- the so-called "2007 problem." The country's over-65 population already stands at 25.6 million, more than 20 percent of the total, and this percentage will continue to expand. The aging of society is not, of course, something affecting only Japan. According to the United Nations, the global population of people over 60 -- today estimated at 600 million -- will approach 2 billion by the year 2050.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2007
Bullying reflects problems in adult society
Disturbing incidents of bullying continue to make the news. We hear daily of the tragedy of children who, unable to endure the harassment and violence inflicted on them by peers and classmates, are driven to suicide.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2007
Moving beyond the use of military force
"We continue to emphasize our differences instead of what we have in common. We continue to talk about 'us' versus 'them.' Only when we can start to talk about 'us' as including all of humanity will we truly be at peace . . ."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2006
The gravest violation of human rights
December 10 was Human Rights Day.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world