Upcoming Rotary International Global Peace Forums

Posted by May Yoneyama Gwinn 
on Nov 16, 2012
 

Join Washington, DC, Paris and Tokyo Rotarians for a Rotary Peace Forum Meet-up in Tokyo in May 2013.

 
In 2012-13, Rotary International will be hosting three Rotary Global Peace Forums led by RI President Sakuji Tanaka under the banner of Peace Through Service.

Each forum will be a two- or three-day program.  The location, theme, and date for each forum are listed below.  Programs are still in progress for Japan

Berlin, Germany -- Peace Without Borders

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA -- The Green Path to Peace

Hiroshima, Japan -- Peace Begins with You

 

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Above:  Yukio Tada of the Tokyo RC, with wife Hiroko and niece, with Jean Ozonder of  the Paris Académies RC at our Centennial Gala in April.

Under the RI Peace Through Service initiative, clubs are encouraged to promote world understanding and peace by forming relationships with Rotary clubs in other countries.    At the Centennial Gala in April, Rotarians Yukio Tada of the Tokyo and DC Rotary Clubs and Jean Ozonder, Past President of the Paris Académies Rotary Club, proposed having all three “Capital Cities” clubs meet at the Peace Forum in Japan in mid-May 2013, with activities planned during the week of May 12-19, 2013.

Rotarians should plan to arrive in Tokyo Monday, May 13.   The week’s activities would begin with a welcome reception in Tokyo on Tuesday, May 14, then a joint meeting with the Tokyo Rotary Club, on Wednesday, May 15.  The Tokyo Rotary Club is the oldest Rotary Club in Japan, and meets on Wednesdays at the historic Imperial Hotel (originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) located near the Imperial Palace and the Ginza, the famous upscale shopping district in the center of Tokyo. 

The one week excursion to Japan would include travel and sightseeing along the Shinkansen High Speed Bullet Train Line from Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka to Hiroshima.   A trip to view the devastation of the 3-11 Earthquake is expected as well as a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum during the weekend of the Peace Forum, May 17-18.  Rotary Districts are being encouraged to send their Rotary Peace scholars.

Contact Clara Montanez, at clara.montanez@yahoo.com, or May Yoneyama Gwinn  at maygwinn@gmail.com if you would like to join the DC delegation