In a council meeting held in Kyoto on June 19, WCRP/RfP Japan selected Ven. Gijun Sugitani of the Tendai Buddhist sect as its new President. The term is four years. “I would like to exert all my strength with all my heart to bring us closer, if only a little bit, to the goals we had aspired at the inauguration of WCRP/RfP,” stated Ven. Sugitani, referring to the backgrounds of the establishment of WCRP/RfP Japan, at a press conference after the council meeting.

Ven. Sugitani was born in Tokyo in 1942. He graduated from the law school at Keio University and completed a doctoral course at Taisho University Graduate School. He became the chief priest of Myoho-in Temple in September 2017. He has served as a council member and Secretary General of the WCRP/RfP Japan since 1990. He served as the Chairman of the board of directors from 2012 to 2018 and has been a council member since 2018.

Ongoing President, Rev. Niwano Nichiko, president of Rissho Kosei-kai, served as a council member and executive director at WCRP/RfP Japan from 1987 and has served as the Chairman for three terms since 2012. At the same press conference, he expressed his gratitude to the supporters of the activities of WCRP/RfP Japan for many years of support Rev. Niwano stressed that he “sincerely hopes that a compassionate society and a harmonious world will be realized” through WCRP/RfP Japan’s “activities initiated by interfaith leaders.”