Dr. Ikeda has founded nine peace institutions in the areas of nuclear abolition and peace policy research, dialogue, education, politics, environmental sustainability, and transnational and intercultural exchange through the arts, including the following:
The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning and Dialogue
The Ikeda Center’s mission is to build cultures of peace through learning and dialogue. To that end, the center hosts events, publishes books, and produces original resources for its website and social media. Upon its founding in 1993 by Dr. Ikeda, he presented the center with these mottos: “Be the heart of a network of global citizens. Be a bridge for dialogue between civilizations. Be a beacon lighting the way to a century of life.”
The Toda Peace Institute
The Toda Peace Institute, founded in 1996 by Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, is an independent, nonpartisan institute committed to advancing a more just and peaceful world through policy-oriented peace research and practice.
The institute commissions evidence-based research, convenes multi-track and multi-disciplinary problem-solving workshops and seminars, and promotes dialogue across ethnic, cultural, religious and political divides. It catalyses practical, policy- oriented conversations between theoretical experts, practitioners, policymakers and civil society leaders in order to discern innovative and creative solutions to the major problems confronting the world in the twenty-first century.
The Toda Peace Institute’s current research and practice foci are:
Cooperative Security, Arms Control and Disarmament
Social Media, Technology and Peacebuilding
Climate Change and Conflict
Peace and Security in Northeast Asia
Contemporary Peace Research and Practice
New Technologies, Security and Peace
The Soka Amazon Institute
The Soka Amazon Institute advocates for life and its varied forms of expression and interaction. The institute’s goal is to promote dynamic and creative education for sustainable development activities based on the transformation of the human being towards the construction of a society with harmonious coexistence between individuals and nature. Founded in 1991, the Soka Amazon Institute is an initiative led by peacebuilder, philosopher, writer and poet, Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, with a focus on creating environmental awareness projects and protecting the Amazon region. It is a Private Reservation of Natural Heritage (Reserva Particular de Patrimônio Natural – RPPN) with an area of 52 hectares overlooking the unparalleled Meeting of the Waters of the Rivers Negro and Solimões, in Manaus. The area, located on the edge of the city, endures the negative environmental consequences of the expansion of large industries, which makes the Soka Amazon Institute a true haven for fauna and flora.
The Institute of Oriental Philosophy
The Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP) is dedicated to advancing scholarly inquiry into Buddhism and other world religions to clarify their universal value for peace, to integrate them into humanity’s rich spiritual heritage in the modern age, and to solve myriad problems facing humanity today.
On January 27, 1962, the IOP was founded in Tokyo for the sake of clarifying the relevance to peace of world religions in the modern world. In November of the same year, the institute launched The Journal of Oriental Studies, a scholarly publication of essays. The institute was recognized as a nonprofit foundation under Japanese law in December 1965, and in 1986, the IOP moved to its present location on the campus of Soka University of Tokyo. Since 1987, it has published an English-language edition of its journal on an annual basis. On November 9, 2010, the IOP was recognized as a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation under Japanese law. It has exchange and collaborative agreements with universities and research institutions worldwide.
Official Dr. Ikeda Instagram Page
Dr. Ikeda founded the Min-On Concert Association to promote international cultural exchange and peace through music. As Ikeda has written: “Music speaks directly to the heart. This response, this echo within the heart, is proof that human hearts can transcend the barriers of time and space and nationality. Exchanges in the field of culture can play an important role in enabling people to overcome mistrust and prejudice and build peace.”
In February 2015, the Min-On Music Research Institute was launched to investigate how music can contribute to peacebuilding from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, education and ecology.
Another mandate of Min-On—which is short for minshu ongaku, or “music for the people”—is to offer all people the opportunity to enjoy the world’s finest music and performing arts at affordable prices. Perhaps the largest private, non-profit performing arts promoter of its kind in the world today, Min-On is supported by a membership of one million and has conducted exchanges with over 100 countries. Min-On also sponsors the Tokyo International Music Competition and organizes free concerts for schools.
The Min-On Culture Center in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, houses the Min-On Music Museum with a library containing over 120,000 LPs and CDs, 45,000 music scores and about 30,000 reference books for use by the public. The museum also has on display a collection of antique pianos and music boxes, and folk instruments from around the world.