Under the theme "A Buddhist's Social Responsibility," the twelfth China-South Korea-Japan Buddhist Friendly Interaction Conference was held October 17. The conference was sponsored by the Japan-China-South Korea International Buddhist Exchange Council, and the main venue was Rissho Kosei-kai's Fumon Hall in Yokohama.

Some five hundred Buddhist leaders from China, South Korea, and Japan took part. Rissho Kosei-kai was represented by President Nichiko Niwano, in his capacity as vice-president of the exchange council, along with Rev. Yasutaka Watanabe, chair of Rissho Kosei-kai's board of trustees; Rev. Takeshi Kawabata, director of the General Affairs Bureau; Rev. Keiji Kunitomi, deputy director of the bureau; and Rev. Ken'ichiro Nakamura, head of the Kyoto Dharma Center.

On the morning of the 17th the leaders were welcomed by 130 members of Rissho Kosei-kai's Kanagawa dissemination area in front of Fumon Hall. At 11 AM the leaders held a sutra recitation ceremony, and one leader of each country read out a plea for peace. At the afternoon symposium, two leaders from each country spoke, one giving a keynote speech and the other a supplementary speech.

For Japan, Rev. Shunei Tsuboi, chief priest of Konkai Komyoji, the main temple of Jodo Buddhism, in Kyoto, and president of the exchange council, delivered a keynote address. He explained Jodo Buddhism's emphasis on self-examination. He said people can lead lives of fulfillment by striving hard to improve themselves through sincere reflection on their thoughts and conduct. In his supplemental speech, President Nichiko Niwano referred to three Buddhist aspirations: (1) liberation from suffering and anxiety, (2) perfecting oneself in the light of the Dharma, and (3) contribution to the community, the country, and the world. He said Buddhist spiritual growth begins with efforts to save oneself and expands to save other people and then all sentient beings.

The conference ended with Rev. Ryusho Kobayashi, chairman of the exchange council, reading out a joint statement calling for further collaboration by the three countries' Buddhists to build a better world, and all the representatives signing it.

[back to News Archive]