The 2015 NPT Peace Walk For A Nuclear Free Future For Peace and the Planet, From San Francisco to the United Nations, NYC Friday March 20th to Sunday Apr 26th, 2015 2015 marks 70 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We must never let such disasters happen again. Carrying this urgent prayer, we will walk to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations in New York City. On the way we will pass through Native Americans lands, where people continue to suffer from all stages of the nuclear cycle. We will carry a prayer and a pledge that, in keeping with the wisdom of Indigenous people, we will create a sustainable society where we can live in harmony with Mother Earth. Our peace walkers from Japan will report on situation of the ongoing Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, from which we must conclude that there can be no “peaceful use of nuclear technology.”

• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT): The treaty’s objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology. Since its implementation in 1970, the review conference has been held every five years. Although NPT Article VI mandates that nuclear states commence negotiations for total elimination of nuclear weapons, the NPT is barely effective due to the lack commitment of the signatories, and the fact that NPT endorses “Peaceful use of Nuclear Technology.” We, the grass-roots groups, need to urge the nuclear powers to acknowledge that the “nuclear issue is not only about national security but about the survival of Mother Earth and human beings.” We must urge them: “Do not move backwards, take action for a nuclear free future!”
• Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratory: Located east of San Francisco. The laboratory focused on innovative weapon design concepts, such as plutonium and H-bombs. Pacific Islanders are still suffering today from H-bombs tests conducted by the Nuclear Powers.
• Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant: Located in Central California. The last nuclear power plant on the West Coast of North America. The power plant stands on the sacred sites of the Chumash Tribe.
• Nevada Test Site: The largest nuclear test site on the globe. From 1951to1992, a total of 928 nuclear tests (both atmospheric and underground) took place at the Nevada Test Site, the lands of the Western Shoshone tribe. Radioactive fallout has is creating downwind sicknesses even today. We will walk to Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository. The Yucca Mountain project was once abandoned but might be re-opened.
• Big Mountain: Located in Central Arizona. Navajo tribe living at Big Mountain, a part of Black Mesa, an area rich in natural resources including uranium, coal and natural gas, have been forcefully removed. Since the federal government ordered partition of their land and assigned it to the Hopi tribe. The mining companies and the Hopi tribal council have persecuted Navajo tribes. The late Junji Shumanuki Shonin’s life practice was here.
• West Valley: In the suburbs of Buffalo, NY there are massive amounts of radioactive nuclear waste is buried in West Valley has been a great threat to lives and land of the Seneca Nation.
• Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory: Located outside of Albany, NY. The laboratory has been conducting research & development for the production of nuclear submarines.
• Indian Point Power Plant: This aging nuclear power plant is located within less than 50 miles of Manhattan. IP 2’s original 40-year operating license expired in 2013 and IP 3 will be expire in 2015.

No drugs, alcohol, or weapons. We will typically walk 12-18 miles per day. Contact: Jun Yasuda Nipponzan Myohoji Grafton Peace Pagoda 87 Crandall Rd. Petersburg, NY 12138 Phone: 518-658-9301 Jules Orkin Phone 201-566-8403 Email: Julesorkin@yahoo.com 2015 NPT Walk for a Nuclear Free Future From San Francisco to the UN (NY) Date Point of Departure Destination Day 1 & 2 3/18 & 19 Wed & Thu Arrival of walkers in Bay Area Day 3 3/20 Fri Richmond to Berkeley/Oakland Day 4 3/21 Sat San Francisco (Walk in the city, including the Consulate General of Japan.) Day 5 3/22 Sun Oakland to Hayward Day 6 3/23 Mon Hayward to Dublin Day 7 3/24 Tue Dublin to Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratory Day 8 3/25 Wed Hayward to San Luis Obispo (Shuttle) Day 9 3/26 Thu Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant to San Luis Obispo, CA Day 10 3/27 Fri San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles (Shuttle) Day 11 3/28 Sat Los Angeles (Stay at Nipponzan Myohoji, LA Dojo) Day 12 3/29 Sun Los Angeles to Las Vegas, NV (Bus) Day 13 3/30 Mon Las Vegas - Join the walk "Nevada Desert Experiences" Day 14 3/31 Tue Walking in the desert Day 15 4/1 Wed Creech Drone Station Day 16 4/2 Thu Nevada Test Site Day 17 4/3 Fri Yucca Mt. Nuclear Waste Repository Day 18 4/4 Sat Las Vegas, NV to Flagstaff, AZ (Bus) Day 19 4/5 Sun Flagstaff (Walk) Day 20 4/6 Mon Cameron (Abandoned Uranium Mines) Day 21 4/7 Tue Havasupai Tribe? Day 22 4/8 Wed Big Mountain Day 23 4/9 Thu Flagstaff, AZ to Buffalo, NY (Night Flight /Bus) Day 24 4/10 Fri Arrive Buffalo, NY Day 25 4/11 Sat Walk Buffalo, NY to Hamburg Day 26 4/12 Sun Walk 15 miles from Hamburg toward West Valley Day 27 4/13 Mon Walk 15 miles between Hamburg and West Valley Day 28 4/14 Tue West Valley Nuclear Waste Site Day 29 4/15 Wed Walk around Cattaraugus Seneca Nation Day 30 4/16 Thu Buffalo to Albany-Grafton Peace Pagoda (Amtrak or shuttle) Day 31 4/17 Fri Grafton Peace Pagoda to Troy Day 32 4/18 Sat North Central Troy to Saratoga Springs Peace Vigil - Ballston Spa Day 33 4/19 Sun Ballston Spa to Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (Niskayuna) Day 34 4/20 Mon Walk from Schenectady to Albany Day 35 4/21 Tue Shuttle from Albany to Stony Point, Walk from Stony Point to Vigil in front of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant on west side of Hudson River Day 36 4/22 Wed "Earth Day" Walk from Peekskill to Indian Point, Walk from Indian Point to Croton on Hudson Day 37 4/23 Thu Stony Point to Nyack Day 38 4/24 Fri Nyack to Englewood, NJ Day 39 4/25 Sat Englewood to Fort Lee (Joining with 2 other courses) walk over GW Bridge Day 40 4/26 Sun United Nations (NY City) Day 41 4/27 Mon NPT Review Conference NPT (Prayer and Fasting) Read More...

Peace Walk for Earth and Life March 2- March 15, 2014 Grafton, NY- New York City, NY- Washington, DC Humanity is at a crossroads. With dangerous and misguided technologies we have plundered the Earth for the enrichment of the few, leaving a legacy of environmental degradation and destruction and threatening the very existence of human life on this planet. In our spiritually disconnected and short-sighted way we are destroying the Earth, the very source and sustainer of life. It is time to turn away from the “extraction mentality” that makes the earth into a mere commodity to be exploited. It is time to come back to a simple, sustainable way of living rooted in respect for the Earth and the deep interconnectedness of all life. [Inspired by Chief Arvol Looking Horse- caretakersofmotherearth.com] The Walk for Earth and Life is a call to consciousness, a strong refusal of the logic that gave rise to the ongoing crisis in Fukushima, to the horrors of climate change, and the poisoning of our water resources by fracking. All are welcome to join us for any amount of time. Walk Schedule (Subject to change. Please contact the organizers to verify locations and times) March 1--  (Saturday):  Grafton Peace Pagoda to Berlin,NY March 2--  (Sunday):  Berlin, NY- New Lebanon, NY March 3--  (Monday):  New Lebanon, NY- Austerlitz, NY March 4--  ( Tuesday):  Austerlitz, NY- Hillsdale, NY March 5--  (Wednesday):  Hillsdale, NY- Copake, NY March 6--  (Thursday):  Copake, NY- Millerton, NY March 7--  (Friday):  Millerton, NY- Amenia/Wassaic, NY March 8--  (Saturday):  Croton Falls, NY (or Coldspring) to Peekskill, NY March 9--  (Sunday):  Croton on Hudson, NY to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant to Peekskill, NY March 10--  (Monday):  Stony Point, NY to Nyack, NY March 11--  (Tuesday):  White Plains, NY:  Fast & Peace Vigil at Entergy headquarters March 12--  (Wednesday):  New Haven, CT Join the Walk for a New Spring from Massachusetts March 13--  (Thursday):  New Haven, CT- Bridgeport, CT March 14--  (Friday):  Bridgeport, CT- White Plains, NY March 15--  (Saturday):  New York City.  Union Square (1pm) to Tompkins Square Park April 8—(Tuesday): Walk finishes in Washington D.C.   For more information contact Grafton Peace Pagoda at 518-658-9301 (before the walk starts), or when the walk is underway contact 413-320-2856. For more information about Leverett Peace Pagoda’s Walk for a New Spring to Washington DC contact Tim Bullock @ 413-485-8469. Email - walk4newspring@gmail.com Read More...

Maine Drone Peace Walk October 10-19, 2013 Preserve our Privacy: No Drone Spying in Maine President Obama has announced that 30,000 drones will be soon flying around the US doing surveillance of the American people. Thirty-seven states have applied to be one of six drone test centers across the nation. More than 500 drone manufacturing corporations are now bidding to be recipients of Pentagon funds for drones. Join us as we walk across parts of Maine from October 10-19 to call attention to this deadly and unconstitutional drone program. We must push back against the expanding use of surveillance drones in the US and weaponized drones around the world that are killing many innocent people. There is much talk about bringing drones to Maine and making the Presque Isle airport a weaponized drone test center, thus our reason for starting the walk in Aroostook County. Our non-violent peace walk will be led by Buddhist monks and nuns from the Nipponzan Myohoji order. Drone Walk Schedule: •  October 10 (Thursday) Begin in Limestone (former Loring AFB) and walk to Caribou. •  October 11 (Friday) Walk to Presque Isle •  October 12 (Saturday) Drive to Indian Island (near Old Town) and walk into Bangor •  October 13 (Sunday) Walk to Skowhegan (need to drive some part of the day) •  October 14 (Monday) Walk to Mercer •  October 15 (Tuesday) Walk to Farmington •  October 16 (Wednesday) Walk to Waterville (need to shuttle some part of the day) •  October 17 (Thursday) Walk to Belgrade •  October 18 (Friday) Walk to Augusta and hold closing ceremony at state capital at 3 pm (Potluck & program at Mediation & Facilitation Resource Center, 11 King St at 6:00 pm) •  October 19 (Saturday) Shuttle to Bath and join protest against BIW “Christening” of first stealth destroyer - we urge folks to join us from around state at 10:00 am Get more information about the Maine Drone Peace Walk by calling (207) 443-9502 or visit our web sites. Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home http://www.bringourwardollarshome.org Maine Veterans for Peace http://vfpmaine.org Read More...

Two Row Wampum Renewal Peace Walk July 27 – August 10, 2013 Rensselaer, NY  to United Nations, New York, NY The Two Row Wampum Belt is the symbolic record of the first agreement between the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Europeans on Turtle Island/North America. 2013 marks the 400th anniversary of this first covenant, which forms the basis for the covenant chain of all subsequent treaty relationships made by the Haudenosaunee with settler governments on this continent. The agreement outlines a mutual, three-part commitment to friendship, peace between peoples, and living in parallel forever (as long as the grass is green, as long as the rivers flow downhill and as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west). Throughout the years, the Haudenosaunee have sought to honor this mutual vision and have increasingly emphasized that ecological stewardship is a fundamental prerequisite for this continuing friendship. We will walk to support the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign’s Symbolic Enactment, a two week paddling journey and related events that will draw thousands of people to the Hudson River to learn and be inspired to create an equitable and sustainable future for all in the Hudson Valley and beyond. With each step we will strive to transform our relationship to the river and all parts of the natural world, incorporating a sense of historic responsibility for the environment and justice for the original inhabitants of this land. Walk Schedule (subject to change) 7/27 (Saturday): Opening Fest, Russell Sage College, Troy, NY (10 am- 5 pm) 7/28 (Sunday): Rensselaer to Schodack 7/29 (Monday): Schodack to Coxsackie 7/30 (Tuesday): Coxsackie to Catskill 7/31 (Wednesday): Catskill to Ulster Landing 8/1 (Thursday): Ulster Landing to Norrie Park 8/2 (Friday): Norrie Park to Poughkeepsie 8/3 (Saturday): Poughkeepsie to Beacon 8/4 (Sunday): Beacon to Cold Spring 8/5 (Monday): Cold Spring to Stony Point 8/6 (Tuesday): Stony Point to Croton 8/7 (Wednesday): Croton to Piermont 8/8 (Thursday): Piermont to Inwood Hill 8/9 (Friday): Inwood Hill to Pier 96 (Manhattan); join the paddlers to march from Pier 96 to United Nations 8/10 (Saturday): Festival in New York City We will walk a total of about 160 miles, typically walking 13-15 miles per day. We will begin walking around 8:30 or 9:00 am every morning, and finish around 4:30 pm. Because the canoes will be travelling according to the tides, they will depart at a different time each day, but we will meet them at the end of each day. All are welcome to join the walk at any point for any length of time. The walk will be free of drugs, alcohol, and weapons. Walkers who plan to join for more than one day should bring a tent and a sleeping bag, and their own plate and utensils. Because we are walking in support of the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign, the situation with cost is different than most Nipponzan Myohoji Japanese Buddhist Order walks. For the Two Row Campaign there is a cost of $30 per day to cover costs of food, camping, support vehicles, etc. Walkers are asked to contribute to those costs as you are able. All contributions can be made to Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (see contact information below). For more information before the walk contact Jun San at the Grafton Peace Pagoda (518-658-9301); during the walk contact Jules Orkin (201-566-8403). For more information about the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign contact Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation/Syracuse Peace Council (315-701-1592).   www.honorthetworow.org Read More...

Peace Pilgrimage for a Nuclear Free Future Friday March 1 – Friday April 5, 2013 Grafton Peace Pagoda – Washington, D.C.

NO MORE FUKUSHIMA Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo

On March 11, 2011 a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan. This earthquake triggered a devastating Tsunami.   As a result the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant suffered explosions and created a very serious nuclear crisis, which continues even now. Almost 2 years after Fukushima’s nuclear accident there is still no solution. The radioactivity in Fukushima still measures one hundred and thirty eight times higher than Chernobyl. More than 40% of Fukushima children have precancerous thyroid problems. The Japanese government still has no solution to safely clean up and dispose of nuclear waste. We cannot allow this problem to pass to the next generation.

 The "Idle no more" movement in Canada is a movement to protect Mother Earth. For over a month Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawpiskat tribe has been fasting to call attention to the peoples’ land. We have limited natural resources.  We cannot coexist with nuclear power. Let's walk together step by step as a testament of our commitment in protecting the natural resources of Mother Earth.  Let us protect ourselves and our future generations from re-occurrence of this tragedy.

Each step will be a prayer toward World Peace and a Nuclear Free future.

3/1 (Fri) Grafton Peace Pagoda – Troy NY

3/2 (Sat)  Troy NY – Knowles Atomic Laboratory Niskayuna NY

3/3 (Sun) Niskayuna NY – Albany NY

3/4 (Mon) Albany NY – Kinderhook NY

3/5 (Tues) Kinderhook NY – Hudson NY

3/6 (Wed) Travel to Fishkill NY --Beacon NY – Cold Springs NY

3/7 (Thur) Cold Spring NY Rest Day

3/8 (Fri) Cold Spring NY – Peekskill NY

3/9 (Sat) We will join the Leverett Peace Pagoda’s “Walk for a new Spring” at Croton-On-Hudson, NY to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant and will walk with them for the remainder of this walk.

For the remainder of the schedule please see the “Walk for a New Spring” flier at http://newenglandpeacepagoda.com

 We will walk a total of approximately 400 miles, beginning each day at 8 am and typically walking 15-18 miles per day.  Feel free to join the walk at any point for any length of time.  Please respect that the walk will be free of drugs, alcohol and weapons.

For more information: *Grafton Peace Pagoda (518) 658-9301 *Jules Orkin  (201) 566-8403 (during walk 3/1 – 3/9) Initiated by Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist order

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Jun San Yusada recently travelled to Ottawa, Canada in support of the "Idle No More" movement, and to support Cheif Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation. On that day, Chief Spence had spent more that 30 days in a hunger strike that began on December 11.   From Idle No More's website:

Our Goals and objectives are to ensure that the environment is protected and our inherent right to Indigenous sovereignty is recognized as we urge the government of Canada to repeal all legislation which violates Treaties, Aboriginal inherent rights and title, and subsequently environmental protections of land and water.

Later that week Jun San also joined with joins Veterans for Peace walking from Baltimore, MD to Washington DC for the presidential inauguration.   Photo by Mary Crate Graphic image by Jesus Barraza Read More...

The triple meltdown at Fukushima, which has driven tens of thousands of Japanese from their homes, and cast radioactive fallout across the US, will likely cost the Japanese economy $623 billion. It has been proven time and time again that humans do not have the capability to control the long-term effects of nuclear power from uranium mining to power production and radioactive waste.  Nuclear power is not sustainable from environmental, human rights or economic standpoints. Lake Ontario is sacred to the First Nation people of US and Canada and yet it is being highly contaminated by 13 nuclear reactors on the Canadian side and 4 reactors on the US side (and the US government wants to build two more).  Native people have disproportionately high cancer rates due to higher exposure from nuclear radiation created by nuclear waste dumping and uranium mining on Native lands. We walk together in love and solidarity for a nuclear free future. A more just, sustainable, and compassionate world built on respect for all living beings and for the earth that sustains us is possible now more than ever. Please join us to help make it a reality. Walk initiated by Nipponzan Myohoji, Grafton Peace Pagoda and supported by: Mayors For Peace, Sierra Club Ontario Chapter, Greenpeace Quebec Chapter, Syracuse Peace Council, Quaker Friends Meeting, Alliance for Green Economy, Indigenous Women's Initiatives, Riverside-Salem United Church of Christ/Disciples of Christ, First Unitarian Congregation,  Seneca Tribal Nations Cattaraugus Creek Watershed Task Force, Peace Action of Central New York Please join us by walking for an hour, a day, or for the entirety.  You can support us by organizing a community potluck, a sharing circle, a visit to your mayor, a place for our walkers to sleep, or coverage by the local media.  Also, please keep this walk in your thoughts and prayers.  Our walk is drug, alcohol, and weapons free.

For more information contact: Before the walk: Grafton Peace Pagoda 518-658-9301,  or Christian 413-320-2856 or cheythiya@gmail.com During the walk:  Hannah  781-472-9676 , hm291952@albany.edu  

Peace Walk Itinerary

**** This schedule is subject to change.  Please check with the contacts listed  for any changes and/or for daily start and finish locations Read More...