Ikeda Research Institute for Soka Education
Issue 9/ January 18, 2023

Report onIkeda Studies in Education
PurposeThe Report on Ikeda Studies in Education iscompiled and circulated by the Ikeda ResearchInstitute for Soka Education (IRISE) of Soka
University. The Report serves as an informationsharing tool for scholars and researchers of this fieldof study, with the aim of facilitating on a global basis,
further advances in the research of and activities
relevant to Ikeda studies in education.

News Update
CanadaSoka Education Research Centre on Global
Citizenship holds Nov. 18 special lecture online
On November 17, the Soka Education ResearchCentre on Global Citizenship (SERC-GC) of theUniversity of Guelph-Humber in Ontario, Canada
held a special online lecture commemorating thefounding of Soka education developed byTsunesaburo Makiguchi. Makiguchi published “TheSystem of Value-Creating Pedagogy” on November
18, 1930. The lecture series has been held annually
since 2018.
SERC-GC Director Dr. Paul Sherman delivered thefifth annual special lecture’s opening remarks. He
was followed by a presentation made by KazuhiroIguchi, English language instructor at Soka KansaiHigh School in Osaka, Japan and doctoral student atDePaul University’s Value-Creating Education forGlobal Citizenship in Chicago, USA.
Mr. Iguchi’s presentation was entitled, “PracticalImplementation of Soka Education in the Teachingand Learning Environment.” Introducing the basic
concept and perspectives of value creation,

Mr. Iguchi spoke on the Kansai Soka Schools’
program to foster global citizens in general and its
commitment to engage with students withunwavering trust in their potential, as well as his
personal classroom experience to achieve mutualgrowth with learners.
Université Laval delegation takes part inpresentation session at Soka University
On November 5, a contingent of Université Laval’s
Ikeda Studies Centre for Education to GlobalCitizenship, Dialogue and Peace visited Soka
University in Hachioji, Japan, from Canada. They
took part in a session in which students from bothschools, split into mixed groups, presented theirresearch on Ikeda studies on education and peace.
They presented the results of their research on
education for dialogue and value creation, the role ofmusic in peacebuilding, the relationship between
nature and human beings, young people andleadership and global citizenry, among other themes.
Dr. Vincent Fauque from Université Laval and Soka
University’s Prof. Maria Guajardo offered remarks.
TaiwanChinese Culture University’s Ikeda ResearchCenter in Taiwan holds youth forum
On December 17, the Ikeda Research Center of theChinese Culture University (CCU) in Taiwan
organized a youth-oriented forum, the eighth to date
and the first since 2019, with some 100 faculty
members and students participating. The event’s
theme envisioned the role of young people inadvancing the causes of peace, culture and educationin the modern era.

Following CCU President Tzu-Chi Wang’s openingremarks, postgraduate and doctoral candidates fromthe National Taiwan University, Sun Yat-Sen
University and CCU presented a total of sevenpapers on the educational philosophy of Daisaku
Ikeda.
The Ikeda Research Center (IRC) was founded in2003 and the first institute of higher learning in
Taiwan to carry out in Ikeda studies, engaging in theChinese translations of Ikeda’s dialogues andpublishing research papers on its field of study. The
IRC has also served as the principal agent of aninternational forum on Ikeda’s works on and insights
into peace and peacebuilding held by the CCU every
year in March.

Daisaku Ikeda’s Statementon the Ukraine Crisis and No
First Use of Nuclear Weapons
On January 11, 2023, peacebuilder and Buddhist
leader Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai
International (SGI), issued a statement decrying thecruelty and misery of war, calling for action aimed atrestoring peace in Ukraine and steps to lessen the riskof the use of nuclear weapons.
Ikeda, 95, calls for the urgent holding of a meeting
under UN auspices among the foreign ministers ofRussia, Ukraine and other key countries to reachagreement on a cessation of hostilities. With the riskof nuclear weapons use at its highest since the ColdWar, he also urges states to pledge “No First Use” ofnuclear weapons to avoid catastrophe, defuse theclimate of mutual fear and promote nuclear
disarmament.
Ikeda made a similar call to the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference inAugust 2022, where the SGI cohosted a side event
promoting the adoption of No First Use policies.
Commitment to No First Use in South Asia was also
explored at a recent workshop held by the Toda
Peace Institute founded by Ikeda.
Ikeda observes that during the Cold War, “Havingexperienced first-hand the terror of teetering on thebrink of nuclear war, the people of that time brought
forth historic powers of imagination and creativity,”
resulting in groundbreaking initiatives such as theStrategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between theUS and the Soviet Union. He urges that all countries
and peoples must come together to once again
unleash such creative powers.
He calls for action that harnesses the synergisticeffects of the NPT and the TPNW (Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons) toward therealization of a world free from nuclear weapons.
Statement on the Ukraine Crisis and No First Use ofNuclear Weapons | Daisaku Ikeda Website

This Issue’s Selected Writing
Shiohara, M. (2022). What Ikeda Daisaku learned at“Toda University” (N. Inukai, Trans.). Soka
Education No.15. Ikeda Research Institute for Soka
Education.
This article is based on two virtual lectures
conducted for “Toda Jōsei’s Educational Philosophyand Practice,” a course in DePaul University’s
master’s degree program in Value-Creating
Education for Global Citizenship. The lectures weretitled “What is Toda University?” (June 6, 2020) and“What Ikeda Daisaku Learned at Toda University”(June 5, 2021). Formatting and citations have been
converted to APA style and some footnotes wereadded for this translation.

Postscript⚫

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We welcome comments regarding thisReport as well as suggestions on specificmaterial that it should feature in futureissues. Contact: Ikeda Research Institute forSoka Education (IRISE) of Soka University(IRISE-access@soka.ac.jp)
This Report is issued on a bimonthly basis,
with the next release tentatively scheduled forMarch 18, 2023.