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The Lakeland Lecture Series Presents: Akira Kawasaki

Oct. 27, 2023

On November 8, as a part of the Lakeland Lecture series, Akira Kawasaki will be giving a talk at Bunkyo Gakuin University. His topic, "Abolishing Nuclear Weapons: The Role of Civil Society," is timely, given the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel.

The lecture, sponsored by both Lakeland University Japan and Bunkyo Gakuin University (BGU), will be at 7pm. All are welcome to attend this 40-minute lecture, followed by a Q&A. Kawasaki, in addition to being an International Steering Committee member for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winning organization, ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), is also an Executive Committee Member of Peace Boat, and his new book, My Job is to Make the World Peaceful, is available in Japanese and written specifically for young adults. 

In an August 2018 interview for The Japan Times, Kawasaki spoke briefly to LUJ Professor Patrick Parr about the issue of nuclear weapons and how they are perceived in Japanese society. “A vast majority of Japanese people believe they are victims,” Kawasaki said, “and we [ICAN] are calling for a nuclear-free world. But when you look at the behavior of the government…it shows that they are taking the issue on the surface only.”

For more information about the lecture, please check out the posters below, or email Lakeland Lectures director Roger Grabowski at grabowski@japan.lakeland.edu 

Also, as usual, we will stream the lecture on Zoom. Here is the Google Form signup, in case you can't make it in person: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KZHW10Ya6l1LlaBcQoI1HhvuBULlzISNCCbVuexzx5E/edit