Religious leaders from around the world and experts on disarmament and security began a two-day forum on disarmament here Wednesday.
The event at the Kyoto International Conference Hall is sponsored by the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), organizers said.
The participants, 23 representatives of world religions and 19 defense and security experts, will discuss ways to scrap nuclear weapons and firearms before producing an action plan.
The WCRP was set up by Nikkyo Niwano, the founder of Japan's second-largest lay Buddhist group, Rissho Koseikai.
Its assemblies -- since the first in 1970 against the backdrop of the Vietnam War -- have drawn leaders from major religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam as well as indigenous and new religious faiths.