HJ Peace Loving Festival, Japan

Contributed by Julian Gray, FFWPU International Headquarters

True Mother delivered a historic speech to an audience of 10,000 for the HJ Peace Loving Festival at Kanagawa prefecture in Japan this Sunday.

A year ago, True Mother told Japanese Unificationists that when 10,000 people can gather for an event in one local area or prefecture, she would come personally and speak. Consequently, the Unifcationists of Japan rallied to assemble 10,000 Unifcationists and guests came for the event. Keeping her word, True Mother traveled from Korea to Japan to attend the festival in appreciation for the Japanese Unifcationists’ diligence and to deliver God’s message of truth. 

Following the opening prayer, Rev. Eiji Tokuno, President of FFWPU-Japan, welcomed everyone to the Peace Loving Festival to call for happy families and world peace. He said that among many challenges confronting the world today, there are both threats to peace coming from certain nations and threats to society posed by declining family values. He continued to speak about True Father’s life and work, subsequently introducing True Mother as God’s beloved daughter. In the ideal world, Rev. Tokuno explained, families guided by the philosophy of living for the sake of others would center on God as the common Heavenly Parent of all humankind.

Hon. Toshiro Toyoda and Hon. Dai Shimamura, both from the Liberal Democratic Party then spoke in support of family values and the Unifcation movement’s efforts to uphold them. Mr. Shimamura is also the Chairman of the Committee for Health, Labor and Welfare.

Entertainment followed, which featured traditional Japanese cultural offerings. Among these cultural offerings included a drama depicting the important history of Kanagawa as the doorway through which the cultures of other nations came to Japan, and as the place where General Douglas MacArthur first visited following the country’s defeat in World War II. A key moment in the entertainment was when three second generation Unificationists took the stage to share their parents’ heart of filial piety to God, faith in True Parents and their commitment to nations in other parts of the world. One of these young Unificationists was Wakako Sasamoto, daughter of martyred Unificationist missionary Masaki Sasamoto.

FFWPU International President Sun Jin Moon then introduced True Mother, and she did so with her usual warmth, enthusiasm and respectful affection for her mother and our True Mother.

In her message, True Mother highlighted that everyone must become global citizens who live for the sake of world, explained that the ideal of True Parents is not just for Japan but for the whole world. Referring to the testimonies of the three young people who had spoken just a short while earlier, True Mother said that if such people could fill this nation and work for all of the other nations on earth, then all 7.5 billion people of the world would realize God’s dream and attend True Parents. She expressed the hope that Kanagawa, where the gates to a new era for Japan had been opened, would open the gates to create a world of ideal families and bring about change. 

If the twisted history of the past can be cleaned away, True Mother said, then a new history can begin. She provided hope for everyone in attendance, insisting that the work for the realization of such ideals is gaining ground now. Emphasizing the roles of Japan and Kanagawa prefecture, True Mother said she is praying for Heaven to guide them.

After concluding her speech, True Mother had a gentle, radiant smile as her family surrounded her to give three cheers of victory and peace with the 10,000 people in the audience.