On Friday, September 15, a ceremony to commemorate the completion of Phase 2 renovations on the Kyoto Museum for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University was held ahead of the museum’s grand reopening on Saturday, September 23. Approximately 70 people attended, including Shunichi Tokura, Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Takuo Takigawa, Director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Sayuri Maekawa, Director of the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum, and other distinguished guests and members of the university community.

To embody its educational philosophy of “Peace and Democracy” and cultivate peacemakers as part of its social responsibility, Ritsumeikan University opened the Kyoto Museum for World Peace in 1992. It was the world's first comprehensive peace museum established by a university.
In 2005, the university carried out Phase 1 renovations on the exhibits and established the new Media Library for International Peace. This time, during the Phase 2 renovations, the permanent exhibits, which were previously split between the basement floor and the second floor, were all relocated to the basement floor. Universal design was also taken into consideration in the facilities and equipment upgrades, and a new Peace Commons was established on the second floor to encourage independent study and material viewing.

　　　

　　　

　　　

　　　

At the beginning of the ceremony, Chairperson Tomomi Morishima expressed his strong desire for the Kyoto Museum for World Peace to carry on efforts to communicate the importance of life and to continue making contributions toward the creation of peace.

Next, Commissioner Tokura and Mr. Takigawa gave congratulatory addresses. In his speech, Commissioner Tokura expressed his expectations for the museum to conduct research on how difficult it is to secure peace as well as the level of effort needed to maintain peace and to share its knowledge throughout Japan and around the world. After the speeches, Museum Director Kimijima reported on the progress of the Phase 2 renovations, after which letters of appreciation and commemorative gifts were presented to the guests. The ceremony closed with President Nakatani expressing his thanks to everyone.

After the ceremony, the three museum directors—Director Takigawa, Director Maekawa, and Director Kimijima—held a discussion on the topic of the desired shape that Peace Museums should take now and in the future.

Based on its educational philosophy of “Peace and Democracy,” Ritsumeikan University will continue using the Kyoto Museum for World Peace as a vehicle to contribute to the creation of peace in Japan and throughout the world.