Dec. 18, 1980Soka Gakkai Women's Peace Committee Established
At Ikeda's suggestion, the Soka Gakkai Women's Peace Committee was launched to promote individual efforts for peace, as well as increase awareness of women's roles in building a culture of peace. As part of its peace education activities, the committee has compiled and published 20 volumes of war testimonials since the 1980s and has developed and hosted seminars and exhibitions throughout Japan. The Young Women's Peace and Culture Conference was established in 1992 with an aim to promote peace education among younger generations of women without firsthand experience of the war. Today, SGI women throughout the world are engaged in peace and human rights education in an era that Ikeda frequently refers to as a century shaped by empowered women.
On April 2, 2009, the women's committee launched an educational DVD titled "Testimonies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Women Speak Out for Peace," featuring ten women whose lives were devastated following the atomic bombings of the two cities. (The testimonies can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY61xqKoCKar6KmGgiHTa4JCXbgui9Uh8 in English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and French.)