Happy New Year!
Thank you very much for your kind support and cooperation with regard to
Religions for Peace (RfP) Japan.
At the Board Members meeting held last September, Rev. Gijun Sugitani of
the Tendai Buddhist Denomination, who had served as the Chair for six years
over three terms, announced his resignation, and I was appointed as the
new Chair to assume this important position.
When RfP Japan made a fresh start as a public interest incorporated foundation,
Rev. Sugitani made painstaking efforts with great passion to support the
shift, for which I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude once again.
As a public interest incorporated foundation approved by the Japanese government,
we need to make plans steadily based on our future vision, implement these
plans, evaluate and learn from the results, and sincerely listen to opinions,
including criticisms from both inside and outside Japan to take further
steps forward, while ensuring the transparency of all these processes.
I think we always need to keep in mind the fact that we have a heavy responsibility
to meet these requirements.
This August, Religions for Peace (RfP) will hold its 10th World Assembly
on the theme, “Caring for Our Common Future” in Lindau, Germany, and RfP
Japan will make preparations for the event, considering how we can link
this year’s activity policies with the agenda of the Assembly.
There are five issues listed as subthemes of the World Assembly, and all
of them are deeply related to the activities that have been conducted by
RfP Japan’s task forces. For example, for proactive contribution to peace,
we can conduct activities both within and outside Japan to increase advocacy
for the effectuation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,
which is the goal pursued by our task force on the abolition of nuclear
weapons. At a UN conference held in 2017, Japan abstained from voting on
the Treaty for the reason that the country relied on the US nuclear umbrella.
However, we should not approve the existence of any nuclear weapons, which
embody absolute evil and could destroy the future of humankind if they
are actually used.
Our task forces on climate change, refugee issues, reconciliation education
and disaster support have steadily made achievements toward world peace
as religious groups, though the magnitude of their activities is not large.
In the face of spreading nationalism and egoism, let us dispatch, from
the world of religion, messages that emphasize the importance of leading
our lives together in harmony with each other and the dignity of life.
Finally, I would ask for your continued support and advice this year as
well.
Chair of RfP Japan
The Most Rev. N. Makoto Uematsu
(The Primate of The Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church of Japan)
