Visit to Minato City Mayor Seike

Visit to Minato City Mayor Seike

Date & Time: Thursday, May 28, 2026, at 3:00 PM

We visited Minato City Mayor Seike to express our gratitude for the video message she provided for the Minato UNESCO Association’s FY2025 symposium.  Ms. Mayor also   presented the symposium’s findings (proposals) on behalf of the students from Tokyo Metropolitan Mita High School.

　The meeting took place in the Mayor’s reception room. It began with Advisor Nagano introducing the participants and outlined the symposium. Subsequently, four students presented the symposium’s findings and proposals, followed by an exchange of views between the students and Mayor Seike.

　The symposium was held on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, to mark the occasion of Zojoji Temple’s “Tripitaka” (Buddhist scriptures) being inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2025. The theme was “What Can We Do for Peace? Insights from UNESCO’s Memory of the World.” The students from Tokyo Metropolitan Mita High School who participated in the event offered several proposals aimed at raising awareness of Zojoji Temple’s “Three Great Tripitaka” collections.

　The discussion took place in a cordial atmosphere, with students offering proposals and exchanging views. Mayor Seike shared several thoughts, including: (1) Minato City has launched an “Innovation Lab” initiative to solicit policy proposals from junior high and high school students; (2) utilizing “high school student ambassadors” might be a good idea; (3) translating the *Daizōkyō* (Great Canon of Buddhist Scriptures) into modern Japanese could be a meaningful endeavor; and (4) Minato City would like to convey these proposals to Zōjō-ji Temple as well. We extend our deepest gratitude to the ward office staff who arranged the venue and to Ms. Doran, the supervising teacher from Tokyo Metropolitan Mita High School.

(Written by SATO Ritsuko, Standing Director, the International Academic and Cultural Committee, and translated by MIYASIHITA Y., the PR & Internet Committee)