1.We aim for the building of global peace and a world whose citizens can feel serenity and joy in life.
2.We aim for the creation of global peace and public values, making the most of wisdom gained from close at hand, through living our daily lives.
3.We aim for the building of a loose, public network of friendship for global peace, respecting both individual self-reliance and also partnership with others in diversity.
4.We aim to give further strength to the appeal to world public opinion of the significance and value in the history of civilisation of the idea of global peace embodied in the permanent renunciation of war in Article 9 of the Japanese constitution.
5.We aim for the formulation of principles of peace, the conducting of non-violent public activities, and the creation of Arts of Peace which may allow us together to experience the joy of living.
1.Peace from close to our feet
2.The question of peace
3.Dignity of life and dialogue
4.Living rooted in the earth
5.Pursuing a new form of non-war peace movement
6.Establishment of a non-war partnership
7.Towards the dawn of human wisdom
1.Arrival of Global Crisis
2.Formation of a New Peace Movement
Let each and every one feel peace from the
spot where we stand
Feel the breath of life
Feel ourselves and the world
And grow seeds of peace from close to our
feet.
Looking back to the source of each one of
us as human beings who walk upright, that is, to our feet, we resolve to feel,
think, and act on the meaning of peace from close to our feet.
At the start of the 21st Century, on 11
September 2001, the people of the whole world were faced with the profound and
serious question, what is peace?
On no account are the terrorist acts by
Islamic extremists, which stole the lives of many totally innocent American
citizens, to be condoned. At the
same time, it is a fact that those actions, which required the perpetrators to
sacrifice their own lives, brought into relief the scale of the problems they
held.
What do terrorists hope for, what are they
protesting against, when they throw away their own lives? Unless we listen calmly to their
voices, understand them and judge them, and search out a wisdom of shared
existence such as can change ourselves and our circumstances, the future for
which we aim will never come.
In these circumstances, we wish actively to
aim for the realisation of a peaceful society in which dignity of life can be
guaranteed for each and every person living on the Earth, freeing ourselves
from the logic of national interest favoured by states.
It is each and every one of us who make up
societies and states, and it is each and every one of us who create problems.
We have learned these important truths from
looking at our own feet: that whatever we hope to achieve we start from
self-reliance, not leaving things to others but standing on our own two feet;
and that our own happiness depends on the happiness of others-- that if we
start to exploit others, then surely one day we will pay the price.
In order for each of us to live in peace,
we need first of all mutually to recognise the significance and dignity of our
existence as individual units of life on this Earth. Only then, through dialogue, can we develop and create
various individual, social and cultural forms.
Only when we recognise the fact that we
cannot live in isolation, when we recognise the fact that at the same time as
being individuals we live in contact with others, are given life by the
strength of others, only then does a sense of gratitude and happiness arise.
When we tread the earth with our bare feet,
we feel the warmth of the earth rising up. Just by taking off our shoes and socks, we can recall the
memory of nature. And when we do
so, we realise what a very simple thing "peace" is: that happiness is eating,
enjoying conversation with our friends and our families, and sleeping without
worry.
We would like to bring back this feeling of
peace, this feeling of happiness, starting right here where we are.
To this end, we resolve to sustain and
develop a non-war peace movement appropriate to the new century, rooted close
to our feet, standing firmly on the earth, refining our own sensibility and
freely exercising our powers of imagination and thought, and witnessing the
awakening of each of our hearts and bodies.
Bringing together a flexible sensitivity
and intellect, we aim to seek out a new, joyful form of peace movement and to create
a world in harmony with nature, where basic human rights are protected, and
where the dignity of each and every one's life is guaranteed. Within this movement, we wish to
develop and produce an artistic sense such as will arouse bodily development,
delight and feeling of happiness. In a spirit of fellowship and acceptance, celebrating diversity and
creativity, we wish to take up the challenge of reviving the peaceful spirit of
Article 9 in the new century.
Further, learning from Costa Rica's
declaration in its 1949 constitution of the abolition of a standing army and of
unarmed neutrality, and receiving the recognition of Asian countries as a
"non-warring state", we will join in a network with citizens seeking peace
throughout the world, and, through the practice of grass-roots diplomacy and
the activities of individual citizens, establish a "global peace public
network".
We will put into practice a human
communication partnership which will bring about a real feeling of peace
through our self-awareness as global citizens by forming links with life and
with people on this watery planet
Looking to the future, we will propose a
culture of peace and a society of peace as paths to the opening of a new age,
so that the year 2001, with its negative inheritance, may be remembered as the
dawning of human wisdom.
Let us join together in developing and
creating ways, rich in individuality, of achieving this aim. With hope for peace in our hearts, and
as part of a great spiral of fellowship linking past, present and future, let
us each bring forward our creativity and energy, overcoming difficulties, and
build peace on this, our irreplaceable home in this universe, our watery planet,
our Earth.
1 January 2003
Kamata Toji
Statement of Objectives Non-war Activities
Since the simultaneous terrorist attacks of
11 September 2001, the world has entered a grave global crisis. The actions of Islamic extremists which
sacrifice human lives are to be condemned, and their crimes are to be exposed,
punished and policed internationally.
However, defining such terrorist acts as
war and retaliating through war will not solve the problem, but will only lead
to the sacrifice of further innocent victims. It carries the danger of worsening the situation in a
vicious cycle of meeting violence with violence. The logic of the Bush administration's "war on terrorism",
which declared not only the terrorist organisations but also the Taliban
government as its enemy, is wanting both ethically and legally.
The unilateralist Bush administration is
exhibiting a high-handed stance which can be seen as American neo-imperialism,
and is pursuing the path of arbitrarily commencing and escalating needless
wars. We seriously fear that a
major and violent clash of civilisations will occur as a result, and we wish to
plead the case for dialogue between civilisations and for renunciation of war,
not only to the Japanese and U.S. governments, but to public opinion throughout
the world.
All war can be seen to be evil, but it is
often claimed that wars are justified as a necessary evil. The present "war on terrorism",
however, is no such necessary evil, it is simply a global evil which will only
bring about large-scale loss of human life. Nuclear war, furthermore, could be called "absolute evil",
and it is our greatest prayer that we may avoid the absolute evil of nuclear
war.
And yet, the government of the United
States is joined by the governments of many other countries in supporting war,
and the Japanese government, too, has on the occasion of the war in Afghanistan
enacted the unconstitutional Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law and for the
first time since World War II has involved the country in war by sending troops
overseas. In relation to the war
in Iraq, too, the government is now considering the enactment of an "Anti-Iraq
Special Measures Law" and cooperation with the war.
In opposition to the global evil of the
world "war on terrorism", and with the aim of achieving the global public good
which is the restoration and realisation of peace, we propose to form a new
peace movement.
The post-war peace movement, arising from
the experience of defeat in World War II, performed an important role in
maintaining the idea of the Peace Constitution. It also had problems, however, such as the problems of rigid
communist/socialist ideology, the idea of peace in one country, subordination
to economic considerations and protection of livelihood, the turning of Okinawa
into a fortress, and self-righteous campaigns of enlightenment and rationalism,
and now it has to be said that it holds little appeal for the young generations
who have no experience of war.
We aim, therefore, from the philosophical
standpoint of peace as a global public good, creatively to develop a new
non-war peace movement appropriate to the new century, with importance given to
religious, philosophical, ethical and artistic elements.
This involves the development as a movement
of the idea of"non-war" with its tradition going back to Uchimura Kanzo. As Maruyama Masao once said, what is
called for is the "political activity of non-political citizens" grounded in an
inner and cultural inheritance. We
wish to develop the practice of "little politics" by citizens, rooted in our
daily lives, a new public peace movement with a firm spiritual grounding.
In order to achieve peace in this age of
global crisis, practical activities are called for, arising from the public
conscience and breaking through the walls of political indifference and apathy
in the world today. Following the
precedent of Gandhi, and as advocated by Arendt, we resolve to carry out
peaceful activities based on discussion and debate in a non-violent manner.
In order for us to carry out such
activities ourselves, the wisdom, courage and energy of each and every one of
us is called for. And the motive
for our movement is a loving motive, of putting an end to killing. For our movement to be a constructive
one, one that hopes also to redeem those whom we criticise, without becoming
combative or destructive, kindness and love are required. Carrying out practical activities,
combining love, wisdom and courage, is the public virtue of today. In this sense, the peace movement can
itself act as a space for the development and cultivation of human virtue.
In contrast to the peace movements of the
past, which have tended to generate a heavy and combative atmosphere, we hope,
by joining reason to sensitivity, to develop a peace movement filled with inner
joy and happiness. Such a movement
could be called a festival of peace, an "art of peace".
This is an endeavour to revive in this new
century the pacifism of the post-war constitution, valuing the spirit of wa or harmony going back to the
17-article constitution of Shotoku Taishi. It is our wish to contribute to the creation of a new, peaceful
global civilisation together with non-warring voices from other countries of
Asia and elsewhere, to counter the neo-imperialism of the United States. A global civilisation and culture based
on mutual recognition of and respect for all civilisations and cultures is
needed to counter neo-liberalist, West-centred globalisation.
Wishing for the realisation of a world of
peace on Earth, developing as a network of fellowship with companions and
friends who wish for global peace, and in liaison with peace-oriented networks
across the world, we hereby inaugurate the Global Peace Public Network. We pray that many global citizens will
join us, and that this new movement may contribute to the realisation of global
peace.
New Year's Day 2003
Kobayashi Masaya
Chiba Makoto
Public Philosophy Network