A “New Youth Festival 2008” was held in Chiba, a city next to Tokyo, on March 15 with 550 participants.
The first session began with some opening remarks. One Chiba prefecture councilor, who is an Ambassador for Peace, gave a congratulatory address. Then five of the service project participants and children of international families gave speeches.
Based on their experience, the children stated that the spirit of service breaks down walls both within their own hearts as well as walls between nations. The speeches certainly moved the hearts of the audience and one of the participants reflected, “Listening to the speeches by children of international families, I was moved to see someone younger than me looking at the world so seriously and I felt embarrassed for myself.” Others also shared inspirational testimonies regarding the young participants.
A prefecture councilor, who was appointed as an Ambassador for Peace in the youth festival, spoke about the importance of young people taking responsibility for Japan’s future, referring to his experience participating in a service project with young people. Mr. Ichiro Inamori, President of the Youth Federation for World Peace - Japan, spoke passionately about a culture of service promoted by true love as the driving force for realizing one family under God.
The first session closed with the appointment of Youth Ambassadors for Peace. The atmosphere of the festival was very high with young people’s energetic songs, dance, and saxophone and band performances. The festival itself closed with the whole audience standing and singing together enthusiastically.