Photo= Inter-religious and cross-denominational Gathering of Prayer for World Peace (Enryakuji Temple, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture)

The "Gathering of Prayer for World Peace," was held on August 4 at Hieizan Enryakuji Temple, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and religious people of the world, moving beyond religions or denominations, met together. On the milestone of World War II's end seventy years ago, approximately 1,000 people gave prayers for all the war dead around the world and called for world peace.

The gathering has been held annually by "Tendai-shu Kokusai Heiwa Shukyo Kyoryoku Kyokai," or Tendai Buddhist Sect international association for world peace, in order to pass on the spirit of the 1987 "The Religious Summit Meeting on Mt. Hiei." This year marks its 28th anniversary.

The gathering began with a ceremony in which children brought origami cranes up onto the stage. After reading aloud his prayer for peace, Kojun Handa, the foremost Tendai priest, recalled, upon the 70th anniversary of the war's end, the many lives lost in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the air raids around Japan. Hoping for a swift end to conflicts and terrorism, he declared, "Religious people vow to make even greater efforts."

At 3:30 p.m., representatives of Buddhism, Shintoism, Christianity, Islamism and other religions ascended onto the platform and all the participants made a silent prayer for the realization of peace.