The Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those devoting themselves to interreligious co-operation in the cause of peace and to make their achievements known. Its foundation hopes that the prize will further promote interreligious co-operation for peace and lead to the emergence of more people devoting themselves to this cause.
The award is given annually and consists of a certificate, a gold medal, and 20 million yen (roughly US$180,000). The screening committee, which decides the recipients, is made up of religious leaders of international stature. They select the recipient from candidates who are nominated by religious leaders and others of intellectual stature around the world.
The
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
-base
Niwano Peace Foundationwas initiated by the
Japanese citizen
Nikkyō Niwano, founder of the
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
lay organization
Risshō Kōsei Kai
; until June 1960, is a Japanese Buddhist religious movement founded in 1938 by Nikkyō Niwano and Myōkō Naganuma. Risshō Kōsei Kai is organized as a lay Buddhist movement, which branched off from the older Reiyūkai, and is primarily fo ...
; he was one of the few non-Christian observers of the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
. His son,
Nichiko Niwano, is his successor as chairman of the movement, which is dedicated to
interreligious dialogue.
Laureates
:1983: Dom
Hélder Câmara, Brazil
:1984:
Homer A. Jack, USA
:1985:
Zhao Puchu, China
:1986:
Philip A. Potter, Dominica
:1987:
World Muslim Congress, Pakistan
:1988: not awarded
:1989:
Etai Yamada, Japan
:1990:
Norman Cousins, USA
:1991: Dr.
Hildegard Goss-Mayr, Austria
:1992:
A. T. Ariyaratne, Sri Lanka
:1993:
Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, Israel
:1994: Cardinal
Paulo Evaristo Arns, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil
:1995:
M. Aram, India
:1996:
Marii Hasegawa, USA
:1997:
Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland
:1998:
Maha Ghosananda, Cambodia
:1999:
Community of Sant'Egidio, Italy
:2000: Dr.
Kang Won Yong, Korea
:2001:
Elias Chacour, bishop of the Melkite-Catholic Church in Israel
:2002:
Samuel Ruiz García, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico
:2003: Dr.
Scilla Elworthy, UK
:2004
Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative(ARLPI), Uganda
:2005: Dr.
Hans Küng, Switzerland
:2006:
Rabbis for Human Rights, Israël
:2007: Master
Cheng Yen, founder of
Tzu-Chi, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation, Taiwan
:2008:
Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Jordan
:2009: Reverend Canon
Gideon Byamugisha, Uganda
:2010:
Ela Bhatt, India
:2011:
Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand
:2012:
Rosalina Tuyuc, Guatemala
:2013:
Gunnar Stålsett, Norway
:2014
Dena Merriam USA
:2015:
Esther Ibanga, Nigeria
:2016:
Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR), Sri Lanka
:2017:
Munib Younan
Munib Younan (; born 18 September 1950 in Jerusalem) is a Palestinian people, Palestinian Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).
From January 1998 to January 2018 he was Bishop of the ELCJHL. He ...
, Palestine
:2018:
Adyan Foundation, Lebanon
:2019:
John Paul Lederach, USA
:2020: Ven.
Pomnyun Sunim, South Korea
:2021: Venerable , Taiwan
:2022:
Michael Lapsley, South Africa
:2023:
Rajagopal P. V., India
References
External links
Niwano Peace Prize
{{Footer Niwano Peace Prize laureates
Peace awards
Japanese awards