Nicholas Mellor
9 Oct 2026
Ukrainian children’s cherry-blossom paintings and two days of talks at the Rotary Peace Center, International Christian University, Tokyo. Admission free.
The Rotary Peace Center at International Christian University, Tokyo, hosts Sakura Bridges of Hope this weekend: an exhibition of Ukrainian children’s cherry-blossom paintings, a Sakura Peace Tree and two days of talks under the heading From Children’s Art to a More Peaceful Tomorrow.
Sunday 11 October opens with Prof. Mark Williams (ICU) at 10:00. Heidi Kühn of Roots of Peace speaks on “From Mines to Vines”; Yelisaveta (Lisa) Lesechko, a Ukrainian ICU student and Rotaract leader, on Ukraine, youth and hope; and the ICU Rotary Peace Fellows hold a student dialogue on peace across generations. At 14:00 Dr Masao Tomonaga of Nagasaki University asks “Shall We See a Nuclear-Free World in the Near Future?” At 16:00 Naoko Abe, journalist and ICU alumna, speaks live from London on sakura, Masatoshi Asari, war, reconciliation and hope.
Monday 12 October: the exhibition opens at 10:00. Dr Tetiana Honcharenko of the Japan–Ukraine Partnership Association speaks at 11:00, in Ukrainian with interpretation by her daughter, an ICU student, with a short JAUPA film. ICU students present and lead a dialogue at 14:00, and Misato Nagakawa of Wake Up Japan speaks on youth and peace at 15:00.
Masatoshi Asari, the Hokkaido schoolteacher who bred the Matsumae cherries, reflected: “A small act of friendship can bloom across generations.”
Main Building 1F, Room H-176, 10:00–17:00 both days. Admission free; no registration needed. Students, families and the public are welcome.
Sakura Bridge of Hope is supported by LSN. Read more about it at lsngroup.org/sakura