Peace Boat is a Japan-based NGO that travels the world on educational voyages to promote peace and sustainability. It was founded in 1983 by a group of young people in Japan to foster people-to-people dialogue for peace in East Asia.
In preparation for the ship’s visit to Belfast, David Mitchell was invited to join the voyage for three days between Porto and Liverpool to give talks on the history of conflict in Ireland and ongoing peacebuilding successes and challenges. The talks were interpreted into Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Students from the Belfast-based MPhil in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation were given a tour of the ship when it was docked in Belfast on Saturday 5 October.
Peace Boat’s Founder, Yoshioka Tatsuya was nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize by Mairead Maguire for the Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War. Peace Boat is the Japan anchor of the 2017 Nobel Peace Laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). It is also Northeast Asia Regional Secretariat of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, a global network of local peacebuilders.
David was interviewed on board the ship by UTV news, and the ship’s visit was covered in local newspapers. An article written by former Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation student Laura Rodriguez-Davis for Shared Future News can be read here.