37th Annual Academic Conference
2023. 5. 28
The 37th Annual Academic Conference of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP) was held online, on May 27 and 28. The conference provides the opportunity for IOP domestic and overseas research fellows to share their research on the Lotus Sutra and other topics, including inter-religious and inter-civilizational dialogue, peace and human rights, environmental issues, and so on. Participants presented research on each of their respective areas of expertise.
In conjunction with the conference, the symposium titled ‘The Silk Road of the Spirit in the 21st Century—Exploring the Path to Peace’, was held online on the first day (May 27, 2023) (** the content of the symposium will be published in the Toyo Gakujutsu Kenkyu in November 2023, and in the Journal of Oriental Studies in English in February 2024).
The symposium commemorated the 40th anniversary since Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President and IOP Founder Daisaku Ikeda first presented his annual Peace Proposals. Through his proposals, President Ikeda has consistently shared ways to prevent the occurrence of a third world war and nuclear war, and suggested ways to lead humanity beyond division to solidarity. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss the ways in which humanity today can coexist, enjoy happiness, and advance toward peace together by recognizing the geographical, cultural, and historical ties that are the Silk Road of the 21st century. Prof. Kazuhiro Nakatani (University of Tokyo Graduate School) and Prof. Yoichi Mine (Doshisha University) were invited to speak on this theme. In addition, IOP research fellow Dr. Hideki Iwaki and IOP commissioned research fellow Prof. Hideki Tamai gave their presentations.
The presentations were followed by a panel discussion among the four speakers and a Q&A session.