Focolare and Rissho Kosei Kai: a bridge happily still in place after it was put in place long ago by the founders of the two Movements, Chiara Lubich and Nikkyo Niwano. Since the early ’80s, on the basis simply of their friendship, shared initiatives have been set up by Christians of the Focolare Movement and Buddhists of the Rissho Kosei Kai (RKK).

Indeed, on 3rd and 4th May a delegation of seven Focolare young people from across the world went to Tokyo to take part in a symposium of young Buddhists and Christians run by the two Movements. The theme was: Keep our faith during daily life and spread joy.

It was a journey that lasted from 30th to 8th May and it was not just a matter of simply going to a conference. As the participants explained, ‘We worked on the contents of the meeting with both the RKK and with the Focolare in Japan who hosted us, and we lived the time of preparation together with our travel as a chance to get to know better the history of the Movement’s friendship with the RKK and, at the same time, to try to consolidate it. It was a small step in dialogue with our Buddhist friends, but even more important for the whole scene of interreligious dialogue.’

Moments of dialogue were not restricted just to the symposium itself. On 2nd May the international delegation of young people spent the day with students of the Gakurin Seminary and they met its President. On 6th May it was the Focolare community in Tokyo’s turn. The community, which also has Buddhists in it, offered moments of dialogue and stories of lived experiences.

Getting to know a country means understanding something of its history and culture. Therefore on 5th May a group visited the capital and, on the 7th, they went to the Enoshima Hase-dera shrine. At the symposium itself, the participants considered the history of the friendship between the RKK (which has six million members, and is the second largest Buddhist Movement in Japan) and the Focolare, with each Movement being presented one after the other. There were, then, comparative talks on the conference theme, which were accompanied by stories of life experiences told by young people from the Focolare and from the RKK, as well as other moments of dialogue and workshops.

On the symposium’s second day the young people greeted the current President of the RKK, Nichiko Niawano. He and his wife came for Memorial Day, when, on the 4th of each month, the death of the RKK’s founder is remembered.

There were numerous testimonies given by the young people of each Movement at the end of the symposium. A Japanese girl said, ‘We have begun working together in a new way. It is a historic day. In ten years’ time I will be proud to say: “I was there!”’ Others said, ‘We have found a family!’ And, when they returned to their various countries, the young people of the Focolare said, ‘We’ve come back massively thankful to Chiara and with a huge passion for interreligious dialogue. We’ve seen that it’s a really important path for building a united world.’