The annual Goi Peace Foundation Forum provides a platform for scholars, activists, diplomats, policymakers and the general public to come together and, through dialogue, explore our way forward. Focal themes of past forums have included education, science, self-empowerment, youth, social entrepreneurship and philanthropy, with each forum program featuring international speakers and panel discussions, as well as arts, music and peace ceremonies.

Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2023

Date/Time

Thursday, November 23, 2023, 2:30 – 5:15pm (Japan Time)
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Theme

Changing The World From Within

Program

2023 Goi Peace Award Ceremony
Commemorative Speech by Scilla Elworthy

The Goi Peace Award is presented annually to honor individuals and organizations in various fields that have made outstanding contributions toward the realization of a peaceful and harmonious world for all life on earth. The 2023 Goi Peace Award will be presented to Dr. Scilla Elworthy, a peace builder and visionary in action.

Dialogue Session: “Turning Aspiration into Action”

Guest speakers Hiroshi Tasaka and Masaya Onimaru will join Scilla Elworthy in discussing how we can start to act on our passion to make a difference for the future. The dialogue with these path-breaking changemakers will be facilitated by forum hosts, Masami and Hiroo Saionji.

PRESENTERS

Scilla Elworthy

Dr. Scilla Elworthy founded the Oxford Research Group in 1982 to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics, and for this work she has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2002, she founded Peace Direct to fund, promote and learn from local peace-builders in conflict areas. She was also an adviser to Peter Gabriel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson in setting up ‘The Elders’. She co-founded Rising Women Rising World in 2013, and FemmeQ in 2016, to awaken the qualities of feminine intelligence in both women and men as essential for building a safer and flourishing world. She now leads the Business Plan for Peace, an initiative to shift humanity away from destructive conflict. Based on her latest books, The Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War (2017) and The Mighty Heart: How to Transform Conflict (2020), the initiative offers an on-line course used by major international corporations.

Hiroshi Tasaka

Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka is a Japanese philosopher who speaks and writes about the philosophy of work and life, the strategy of management, and the visions for the future society. He has published over 100 books, including The Age of Paradigm Shift, Dialectic Thinking to Foresee the Future, Ecology of Mind, Management of Complex Systems and Management of Tacit Knowing. He is the Chancellor of the Akademeia 21st Century, an Honorary Professor at the Graduate School of the Tama University and the President of the Club of Budapest Japan. He also served as a member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum (Davos Meeting) and as Executive Advisor to the Prime Minister of Japan.

Masaya Onimaru

Masaya Onimaru is the founder of Terra Renaissance, a Japan-based NGO dedicated to world peace. He founded the organization in his fourth year of university, after visiting Cambodia and learning about the damage caused by landmines there. Terra Renaissance provides support for the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia and Laos, assistance for rebuilding livelihoods in mined areas, and self-reliance support for former child soldiers and conflict victims in Uganda, Congo, and other countries. In 2022, he was appointed Chairperson of the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC), a non-profit organization with some 140 member NGOs. He aims for social change through dialogue and solidarity.

Masami Saionji

Chairperson of the Goi Peace Foundation and May Peace Prevail On Earth International (headquartered in New York). As an international lecturer, author, and activist, Masami Saionji promotes peace awareness and individual spiritual development. Her best-known writings include The Golden Key to Happiness, You Are the Universe, and Vision for the 21st Century. She is also an honorary member of the Club of Budapest.

Coordinator

Hiroo Saionji

As President of the Goi Peace Foundation and May Peace Prevail On Earth International, Hiroo Saionji is responsible for building the international network of the two organizations in order to promote dialogues and initiatives for peace. In 2005 he launched the ‘Creating a New Civilization’ Initiative. He is also the honorary advisor to Ritsumeikan Saionji Juku (school for global leadership).

*Japanese-English simultaneous interpretation available.