Mr. Kitatani passed away at 6:00 a.m. April 6, 2018 in Tokyo with his wife, Akiko, at his side.　The funeral will take place at the Minato Citizens’ Funeral Hall “Yasuragi Kaikan” in Minami Aoyama, Tokyo, at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, April 9.

　Guterres found it necessary to sustain peace efforts not only once conflict had broken out but also long beforehand, through the prevention of conflict and addressing its root causes.

　Former Minister of Environment Wakako Hironaka moderates a discussion on how to promote the Earth Charter in Japan.

　SG Guterres advocates a more ambitious pathway to bring about necessary changes in the UN System instead of an evolutionary approach which inkers around the edges, and calls for strengthened ECOSOC and accountability.

　A group of 25 Japanese and International Program Associates for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development visited IPCAT in Komakado on the footstep of Mount Fuji.

　Twenty five participants attend the course for global resource development for peacebuilding and development commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and held by the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Center at the Olympic Youth Memorial Center in Tokyo.

　Professor Yuji Suzuki, Director-General of the Federation and Ms. Chiharu Kawakami, Director for Administration, presided over the meeting attended by more than 200 delegates from all over Japan. (Photo: ING進学教室)

　Sixty Member States recognized the need to address complex contemporary challenges but differed on the priority among measures to achieve international peace and security.

　It was a clear morning weather when the first day of the New Year arrived in the central part of Germany where my daughter and her family live. We wish you a happy new year 2018.

　Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho urged that complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security should be dealt with in a holistic and methodological manner to better address the situation on the ground and presented four ideas which included reform of the UN Security Council.

　Former Under-Secretary-General for UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno finds conflicts multilayers and “never dying” reflecting the erosion of international norms and a widening political divide.

　U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and spoke to students at Sophia University about the increasing relevance of the human security concept in dealing with vexing challenges particularly the nuclear threat, mass movement of people, climate change, and increased inequality.

　Japanese Ambassador Toshiya Hoshino suggested the need to create a consensus to build up a solid basis upon which the Secretary-General can bring forward detailed UN reform proposals in May 2018.

　Six former students of Professor Takao Kitamura held a reunion and heard Mr. Mihashi`s life story including his executive business trips abroad for famous Isetan Department Store. Click here for a Japanese text.