200th Hiroshima Study Lecture for Peace

Japan 2025
A man in a suit talking into a microphone in front of lots of people sitting down.
Dr. Tshilidzi Marwala, rector of the United Nations University and under-secretary-general of the United Nations delivers his lecture [© Seikyo Shimbun]

On August 5, the 200th lecture in the Hiroshima Study Lecture Series for Peace was held at the Hiroshima Ikeda Peace Memorial Hall. Dr. Tshilidzi Marwala, rector of the United Nations University and under-secretary-general of the United Nations, delivered a lecture on the theme of nuclear abolition and the role of youth in the age of AI. He stressed the importance of reflecting on lessons from the past and asking ourselves what kind of world we will leave for future generations, as we mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dr. Marwala further stated that peace is built not only by treaties and institutions, but by people and communities.

The Hiroshima Study Lecture Series for Peace was launched by Soka Gakkai youth in Hiroshima in February 1989, to pass on the memory of the atomic bombings and create a world free of nuclear weapons. Notable speakers included Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, former president of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Sunao Tsuboi, former chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo.