Beyond the Traditional Concepts of Peace in Different Cultures

Author(s): Takeshi Ishida

Source: Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 6, No. 2 (1969), pp. 133-145
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/423202
Accessed: 19/10/2010 08:25

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sageltd.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Sage Publications, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Peace
Research.

http://www.jstor.org
 BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPTS
OF PEACE IN DIFFERENT CULTURES
By
TAKESHI ISHIDA
Universityof Tokyo
1. Introduction
Countriesat war always say that they
are fighting 'for peace'. If the true
meaningof the word 'peace'were clear,
a greatnumberof past wars mighthave
been avoided. While some may argue
that this lack of clarity is even advan-
tageous since it makes possible the in-
clusionof importanthumandesiressuch
as justice and prosperity,the other side
of the coin is the dangerof the concept
beingused to justifyany kind of war. In
this age of nuclear weapons we cannot
use the terms 'a war for peace' or 'a
just war' as excuses for startinga war.
Nuclear war is incapable of bringing
about 'peace', because it can only end
in the destructionof mankind.How is
it possibleto preventwar- both nuclear
war and the technicallydevelopednon-
nuclear war of today? How can we
achievesocial justicewithoutwar?
In the followingI wish to examine a
concept of 'peace' which may go some
way towards solving these problems.
We may be able to eliminateambiguity
in the concept of 'peace' and prevent
abuse of the word by giving it a sci-
entific definition. This may be an ef-
fective way to avoid confusion in dis-
cussion of peace. Here, however, I
would ratheremphasizethe importance
of the study of the semanticsof peace
(i.e., how the word 'peace' has been
understood),and considerwhy 'warsfor
peace' have been so successfullyjusti-
fied in the past.
One difficultyis that the meaningof
'peace' varies in differentcultures.It is
essentialto clarifythe differentconcepts
of peace, as the following examples
show.
The first is Japan duringWorld War
II. The governmentleaders stated that
they were fighting for 'peace in the
East'. They called the pacifists and the
dissentersfrom the Emperor-system,as
well as the communists,'aka' (red) and
suppressed them rigorously. Why did
this clash occur between the govern-
ment leaders' concept of 'peace in the
East' and the pacifists'ideal of peace?
This cannot be fully explained unless
we understandthe traditionalJapanese
concept of 'peace'. 'The peace of the
village', which is still a strong social
force, may indicate the characteristics
of the traditionalconcept. During the
national election of 1952 irregularities
occurredin a certainvillage, and a girl
who lived in the villagewroteto a news-
paper exposing them. When the police
began to investigatethe village bosses,
the eirl and her family were ostracized
and life was made so unpleasant for
them that they were finally forced to
leave the village, because the villagers
thought that the family had disturbed
'the peace of the village'.1 There were
many occurrencesof this kind beforethe
war when the whole country was
thoughtto be like a village (the present
situationis a little different).The con-
cept of 'the peace of the village' illus-
134 TakeshiIshida
tratedabove implies the preservationof
the traditionalsystemand customs,how-
ever irrationalthe foundationson which
the rest may be. Content analysis
would reveal a high degree of correla-
tion betweenthe words, 'heiwa' (peace)
and 'chowa' (harmony).The writer is
planningto computethe correlationbe-
tween the concept of 'peace' and other
concepts in Japan. The sample to be
analysedconsists of speeches by Prime
Ministers,and the methodwill be either
to use correlationor to use factor ana-
lysis, in order to find conceptualstruc-
ture concerningthe concept of peace.
If a similar analysis were made in
other countries, then it would be pos-
sible to compare the conceptualstruc-
ture of peace in differentcultures.
We can understandwhy the Japanese
pacifistswere so fiercelyattacked:they,
like the communists,seemed to disturb
the social harmony and conformityto
the war effortof the nation.As a result,
it could be said that the pacifists were
not 'peaceful'.
One may wonder why the Japanese
behaved cruelly in battle and why they
showed such bravery in their suicide
planes. Such deeds were performedto
achieve 'peace in the East' althoughthe
Japaneseloved harmonyand hated con-
flicts withintheirown society.Max We-
ber's dualism, 'Binnenmoral'(morality
within the group) and 'Aussenmoral'
(morality vis-a-vis people outside the
group),may satisfactorilyexplainthe in-
consistency.The moreintensethe desire
to keep harmony among the members
of a society with a strongingroupcon-
sciousness,the strongerthe tendencyto
fight againstany enemywhich threatens
the inner harmonyfrom outside. When
such groupsfight, they employ a moral-
ity different from that applied within
the group. In this cultural context, if
the whole countryadopts a warlike at-
titudeto the outside,pacifistswith their
insistence on peace will have to resist.
Accordingly,the Japanesepacifistshad
to face two enemies:the traditionalidea
of 'internalharmony'and the idea of
'peace in the East', the slogan used by
the government. From these circum-
stances we can understandwhy Japan
did not have a conscientious-objector
system until its defeat, which was fol-
lowed by renunciationof war.
The next example concerns Martin
Luther King Jr. and MahatmaGandhi
and their differencesof emphasis.The
principles of non-violent direct action
did not differseriously:Kingwas deeply
influenced by Gandhi, and they were
both influencedby Christianityand by
Thoreau.Their differencesin emphasis,
however,seem derivedfrom the differ-
ences betweenthe culturaltraditionsof
the USA and of India. In order to
make non-violent direct action polit-
ically effective,they had to resolve dif-
ficultieswhich sprangfrom oppositeex-
tremes:Gandhihad to teach non-violent
direct action and King had to teach
non-violent direct action. Their differ-
ence in emphasisundoubtedlyoriginated
in the different concepts of peace of
their respective cultural backgrounds.
King wrote: 'The eye-for-an-eyephilos-
ophy, the impulse to defend oneself
when attacked, has always been held
as the highest measure of American
manhood. We are a nation that wor-
ships the frontier tradition, and our
heroes are those who championjustice
through violent retaliation against in-
justice.'2This 'frontiertradition'has its
origins in the Judeo-Christianspiritual
tradition.
India, on the other hand, has a spiri-
tual traditionof ahimsa (i.e., killing no
living creature),and of santi which sig-
nifies a well-orderedstate of mind and
is translatedas 'peace' in English. As
Romain Rolland said in his Life of
Gandhi,teachingnon-violentdirect ac-
 Beyond the TraditionalConceptsof Peace in DifferentCultures 135

tion to the Indian has its significance of peace has a more general purpose.
in teachingthem to say 'No'. The differences between concepts of
It is naturalthat the Judeo-Christian peace in differentcultures indicate the
traditionand the Indiantraditionshould contradictory factors involved. What
have differentpoints of emphasisin the must we do to avoid 'wars for peace'?
teaching of non-violent direct action. What must we do to avoid the passive
Each has its own characteristicconcept quietismthat tends to allow injustice(in-
of peace: in the Judeo-Christiantradi- cluding wars) while still maintaining
tion the inclination is to fight against order and calmness of mind? These
injustice,even using force if necessary; difficult problems must be solved in
and in the Indian traditionthe inclina- every culture if we want to maintain
tion is to preserve a tranquil state of peace. Such a semanticinvestigationwill
mind, even acceptinginjusticeif neces- surely be profitableif we want to re-
sary. concile the contradictionsin the concept
The Japaneseculturaltraditionstands of peace.
much nearer to the Indian than to the The Table below shows the original
Judeo-Christian,partly because of the meanings of the concepts of peace of
influence of Buddhism,which was in- the world's main cultures and the dif-
troducedinto Japan more than twelve ferences in emphasis among them. I
centuriesago. fear I have oversimplifiedtheir respec-
What follows is a summaryof Part I tive meaningsand ignored their histor-
of my Politics for Peace, recently pub- ical development, placing too much
lished in Japanese.What must the Ja- stress on the differencesratherthan the
panesedo to maintaintrue peace?What similarities.The diagramought to have
merits are there in the moral tradition been composed of overlapping circles
of Japan that will serve as its foun- ratherthan of mutuallyexclusiveboxes.
dations?and what faultsthat will hinder The Table should not be taken to in-
its attainment?The aim of what follows dicate that, for example, shialomdoes
is to make a cross-culturalcomparison not imply tranquillityof mind. The in-
of conceptsof peace. This comparative tentionis simplyto illustratedifferences
study, originallywritten for the Japan- of emphasis.If the emphasismoves to
ese, may also be useful to people of the left, the tendencyto 'fightfor peace'
other culturalbackgrounds. and the possibility of taking positive
Further, the study of the semantics action to realize justice will increase,

Emphasis The will of Tranquillity

Culture God, Justice Prosperity Order Trnquillity

Ancient.
Judaismshm
shalom~

Greece eirene

Rome Pax

China (Japan) / ho p'ing or p'ing ho (heiwa)

India l .anti I
136 TakeshiIshida
and the dangeroustendencytoward'war
for peace' will arise. This dangerous
tendencydiminishesas we move to the
right of the Table, but another danger
takes its place: the passive quietism
which permits injustice and give tacit
approvalto a situationwhich may re-
sult in war. In what follows I shall
briefly explain the concepts of peace
and clarify these relationshipsamong
them. All the concepts analyzed here
are denoted by terms usually translated
as 'peace' in English. There is, how-
ever, anothergroup of conceptsrelated
to non-violence,such as ahimisa.- In
fact, why ahimrsawas not translated
'peace' is an interestingquestion. One
of the reasons was probably that the
terms usually translatedas 'peace' de-
note vital goals of life, while non-
violenceor ahimsais usuallyconsidered
to be a question of means. The rela-
tionship between these two groups of
concepts needs to be investigatedcare-
fully, but it is impossible to include
both in the same chart because of the
difference of dimension. For the time
being, let us deal with the first group,
i.e. the terms usually translated as
'peace'.
2.1 G. Kittel says that shailom and
eirene differin their originalforms:the
formerdenotes a qualityof relationship
('Verhaltnis')and the latter a state of
being (Zustand').3 Shalom stresses the
unity in berith(covenant)and the real-
ization of Jehovah'sdivine will, and it
brings about justice and prosperity.J.
Pedersonexplains that shalom and be-
rith are inseparable, and they were
sometimesused interchangeably.4 Berith
is superiorto family or blood relation-
ships, although they precede it. The
creation of unity in the covenant was
the indispensableconditionfor realizing
shalom and was even thought to be
shilom itself.
Shalomwas not a state of being - on
the contrary,it was a condition which
the people created through their own
initiative. For example, the realization
of shalom among the people signified
the conclusion of a contract among
them; more specifically,it was the con-
tract by which outsiders became cir-
cumcisedmembersof the Jewish faith.
(This is partlywhy berithin contempor-
ary Israel means circumcision.) Max
Weber says that Jehovah was the God
of contractual union ('Bundenskriegs-
gott'): Israel was based on this contract
with, and was supportedand headedby,
Jehovah.5If shalom is a contractwith
Jehovah, it follows that it denotes a
living and dynamicrelationshipand not
a static condition.
We have good reason to believe that
shatlomwas regarded as referringnot
mainly to a state of mind but ratherto
politico-economicrelations.The Israel-
ites, as a nomadicpeople of the desert,
were exposed to the danger of attack
from outside and were threatenedby
the possibilityof dissolutionfromwithin.
Under the internalcontractthey had to
presenta strongunitedfront againstthe
outside. Shalomimpliedthat which was
gainedin battleand not givenby nature;
specifically, it was given in battle by
God. It was the processwhich revealed
the divinewill throughthe contractwith
God. In this respect shalom was not a
state where all tensions were finally
relieved.
Thus shalom did not necessarilyop-
pose the concept of war, since it some-
times signifiedvictoryin battle.
The Arab countries which suffered
great losses in the Six Day War with
Israel (1967) share the same historical
origin as their bitter foe, Judaism,and
have much in common. The name of
Islam, a1-Iskam in Arabic, means 'to be
at peace' as well as 'to rive absolute
devotion'.Just as in ancientJudaism,it
 Beyond the Traditional Concepts of Peace in Different Cultures
also signifiesfightingfor the revelation
of God's will.
The Moslems interpret'a holy war'
(jihad)as 'a fight for the code of Allah'.
And yet the so-called bellicosity of Is-
lam, indicatedin the slogan 'the Koran
in the left hand, a sword in the right
hand'is from the Moslem point of view
a biased Christianinterpretation.Mu-
hammadAli, who translatedthe Koran
into English, assertsthat Islam is truly
a 'religionof peace'.
The fierce antagonismbetween Israel
and the Arab countries has been at-
tended by hatred on a national scale
ever since the formationof Israel as a
state. This seems to have been caused
partlyby a commontraditionof mono-
theism and a similar militant concept
of peace as a realizationof justiceby the
divine will.
We must considerthe Graeco-Roman
influenceon Christianity,but that it has
also inheritedthe shalomic concept of
peace (realizationof iusticeand achieve-
ment of divine will) is shown by the
idea of the 'bellum justum' (just war)
and the Crusades.
2.2 Eirene (dip4Yv in Greek), which is
thought to have its origin in a word
meaning union, denoted a state, while
shalom denoted relationship.It stressed
the importanceof unity and order. It
was thought to produce prosperity,
although it did not directly signify
prosperity.In this sense, shalom and
eirene have something in common.
Above all we must not forget that the
relationbetweenorderand peace gained
importancewith the developmentof the
polis. There was alreadya markedcon-
trast between the peace within Hellas
and war against the non-Hellenes(i.e.,
the barbarianworld) about the time of
the Persian War (fifth century B.C.).6
Plato's day and age was no exception
to this way of thinking.Plato said that
137
disorderin Hellas was worse than a war
against outsiders, since barbarians were
the naturalenemy of the Hellenes.
Isocrates took up this concept of
peace which stressed inner order, and
maintainedthat peace should be under-
stood in close relationshipto democracy,
thus criticizing those political parties
that advocatedwar. Democracyin the
Greek polis did not include slaves and
women and differed greatly from the
present system. However, Isocrates
thought that democracywould be de-
stroyed by war. His treatise was the
first to discuss the relationshipbetween
peace and democracy from the view-
point that there can be no democratic
order and prosperity without peace.7
2.3 The Roman concept of pax is sim-
ilar to the Greek concept of eirene, in
that it denotes a state. As in 'Pax Ro-
mana', it was often regardedas a state
of good order and absence of war,
althoughit sometimesincluded a state
of good order achievedby conquest. It
also signified a legal relation based on
a pact (the English word 'pact' itself is
from pax). However, the Roman pact
was a secularone based on Roman law
unlike the concept of the covenant,
berith. Another differencebetween pax
and shalom is the association of the
former with a tranquil state of mind:
thereis the expression'pax animi',peace
of mind.
2.4 Compared with the concepts of
peace discussed above, traditionalcon-
cepts of peace in India and China are
ratherdifferent.
In India there aresanti, usuallytrans-
lated 'peace', which means a well-or-
dered state of mind; and ahimsa,which
means rejectionof killing,non-violence,
both already mentioned.The principle
of ahimsa,takingno life, animalor hu-
man,was employedby MahatmaGandhi
138 Takeshi Ishida

as a social and political weapon for fucianism, assumed an affirmativeat-

social reformand independence. titudeto the secularworld,unliketradi-
Unlike the concepts of peace con- tional Indian ethics, the aim of which
sidered so far, traditional santi had was to escape from the world. They
nothing to do with political conditions. seem to be located at opposite poles in
The Indians had other political con- this respect.However,conceptsof peace
cepts, vigraha and sazdhi: the former in China and India have placed similar
was either war as national policy or emphasis on state of mind. We know
hostility leading to war; the latter was from many examples in the Chinese
a state of no vigraha.They also had a classics that the term ho p'ing (peace)
concept sama, meaninga well-governed correspondedto a well-orderedstate of
social order.8A tranquilstate of mind mind.
was indeed a part of the Roman con- Political order, which India was un-
cept of peace, but it was considered able to achieve, was usually called ho
mainlywithinthe politicalcontext:good p'ing; but the term p'ing ho, which
order within and absence of war with- denoteda state of mind,was also some-
out. The concept of saintiwas regarded timesused to indicatea state of political
only as tranquillityof mind, completely order. Consequentlyho p'ing and p'ing
separatedfrom all politicalrelations. ho, which are written with the same
In fact, although Hinduism,Buddh- characters in reverse order, seem to
ism, and Jainism earnestly preached have similar original meanings, even
santi, the politicalstrugglein the course though the frequency of their usage
of which the Gautamaclan was ruined varies with time and place. In this con-
lasted for thousandsof years. Max We- nection, it must not be forgotten that
ber says that this characteristicis a natural and social phenomena were
specialfeatureof Indianreligiousethics, consideredto be continuous.Identific-
which aim at escape from this world. ation between cosmic order and social
Under the caste system rigidlymain- order has been clearly pointed out by
tained in that society, not to die in bed Max Weber as a characteristicof the
(but on the battle field) was the highest Confucianoutlook.9 Social phenomena
desire of the warriorcaste Ksatriyato were often identifiedwith naturalphe-
which the politicalrulersbelonged.The nomena. For example, the crops were
Dharmasastrasaid that the warriorwas believed to depend on rites performed
allowedto resortto armsonly when all by the ruler, and naturaldisasterssuch
other means failed and that his conduct as floods were thought to spring from
in battle should be limited by dharma failureof the rulerto maintainharmony
(law, duty). However, the Arthasdstra, with nature. Max Weber says that this
which deals with the educationof the characteristicis commonto both China
monarch, explains how to weaken the and India. Ho p'ing was regarded as
enemy and achieve victory. obedience to the whole cosmic order,
In fact the reign of King Asoka from which social and natural order
(reigned approximately268-232 B.C.), were inseparable.
who followed the principlesof Buddh-
ism and whose governmentwas based 2.6. The concept of heiwa (peace) in
on Buddhist ideals, was quite excep- Japan has been influenced by China
tional in the long history of India. and India as have other aspects of her
culture. Heiwa bears a closer relation
2.5 Chineseethics, representedby Con- to p'ing ho than to the Indian concept.
 Beyond the Traditional Concepts of Peace in Different Cultures 139

It is written with the same Chinese The positiveorientationtowardjustice

charactersas p'ing ho despitethe differ- in shalo3m,the stress on good order in
ent pronunciation.Besides, both heiwa eirene and pax, and the emphasis on
and p'ing ho are related to political state of mind in sainti, p'ing ho and
order. Since Japan had no caste system heiwa, are all significant components
and had been influencedby Buddhism of peace, and each, to some extent, im-
for many centuries, this influence had plies the others. The differences of
extendedboth to the samurai (warriors) emphasishave been somewhatexagger-
and to the farmers.For one thing, as ated for the sake of comparison.
the samurai were deeplyaffectedby Zen But there are difficulties.These three
Buddhism,some of the more courageous factors (realization of justice, mainte-
ones grew dubious of the practice of nance of good order,and tranquillityof
killing and finally became Buddhist mind) are likely to conflict with one
monks, giving up their swords. More- another.For example, we must oppose
over, to those who did not give up the injusticein order to realize justice; and
callingof samurai, the meaningof fight- this may threatenboth good order and
ing lay not in killingothersbut in dying tranquillityof mind. Again, too much
bravely, to which end they disciplined emphasis on peace of mind and har-
their minds. mony leads to rejection not only of
Heiwa is apt to be understoodas an violence, but also of criticism of the
adaptationto social order as in Con- establishedorder,and resultsin a peace-
fucian ethics, because it is closely re- at-any-priceattitudewhich toleratesin-
lated to harmony,but it also implies a justice.
tranquilstate of mind. Furthermore,it Gandhi, when he came in contact
places an emphasison emotion, which with the Christian concept of peace,
distinguishes Japanese Confucianism grafted many of its good points onto
from classical Chinese Confucianism. the Indian concept whose emphasison
Another characteristicis the aesthetic tranquillityof mindencouragedpolitical
factoraddedto harmonyin which social apathy. By eliminating shortcomings,
order and individual emotional feeling and by developing further the tradi-
are respectivelyinvolved.This probably tional concept of ahimsa,he established
derives from the tradition of Shinto, the principle of non-violent direct ac-
where aesthetic factors, for example tion.
'purity',were dominant. Martin Luther King, who lived in a
Judeo-Christianculture, overcame the
In outliningabove the characteristics frontier principleof fighting for justice
of the conceptsof peace in ancientJuda- with guns by advocatingthe principles
ism, in Graeco-Romanworld, and in of Gandhi. Thus he became a leading
India, China and in Japan, I have per- advocate of non-violent direct action.
haps shownlack of cautionin discussing
culturesin which I am not a specialist.
However, the intention is not to give 3. Some conclusions
detailed descriptionsof the concepts of I have explained the characteristicsof
peace in each culture, but simply to the conceptof peace in differentcultures
clarify their differences of emphasis, and pointed out some of the difficulties
which will be significantwhen we con- we face when considering it. In the
sider the problems surroundingpeace originalJapaneseversion,whatfollowed
today. was a historical example, the Catholic
140 TakeshiIshida

attitudetowardsthe bellum justumand French Revolutionand the Paris Com-

the historical developmentfrom Saint mune when street fighting was more
Pierre to Rousseau and on down to effective than today.
Kant. I also dealt with the Quakerand Althoughviolentprotestis inappropri-
Marxistviews of war and their applica- ate in termsboth of moralprincipleand
tion to actual events. But since this of practicaleffectiveness,this does not
discussionis familiarto mostWesterners mean that protests are not necessary.
I shall omit it here. Instead I wish to On the contrary,without protest par-
expressmy views as a Japaneseon non- liamentarydemocracytends to stagnate.
violent directaction. The dangerof violent protest is that it
Only by fighting for peace by the may lead to the breakdownof the dem-
non-violent method, can we overcome ocratic system itself and hence may
the contradictionsinvolved in the con- be followedby a worse form of govern-
cept of 'peace'.But can we reallyachieve ment. Thus the only way to reconcile
justiceeffectivelyby non-violentaction? the achievementof social justice and
This problemhas plaguedman since the the maintenanceof democraticproce-
beginningof history, but today a solu- dure is to protest by means of non-
tion is urgentlyneeded. violent direct action.
To prove the necessityof non-violent The same can be said aboutthe inter-
direct action in the present situationis national situation,in the sense that the
easier than provingits feasibility.Even escalationof violence may easily reach
in a country like the United States, in a point fatal for both sides, and for the
which parliamentarydemocracyis high- whole of humanityin the case of nu-
ly developed, social injustices are not clear war. But at the same time, inter-
easily abolished by the parliamentary national injustice should not be toler-
system. For instance, turbulentprotest ated. The difficultyin this case is the
movement was necessary to force the existenceof sovereignstates,whichhave
systemto tackle the problemof improv- retainedhuge militaryforces. Theoret-
ing the situationof the Negroes. As a ically, there is no reason why a man
result, legislation was carried out to who kills one person within his coun-
guaranteethe right of Negroes to vote, try's bordersshould be punished,while
and so on. Nevertheless, much more one who kills many personsbeyond the
pressureis needed to abolish the seg- borders duringwar is called a patriot.
regationand inequalitywhich still exist. In this sense, Martin Luther King was
There are many Negroes and students quite right in applyingthe 'philosophy
who feel impatientwith the delay, and of non-violencefromthe streetsof Selma
violent protestis advocatedby some of and Memphisto the ricepaddiesof the
them. Violent protest, however, fre- Mekong Delta and jungles of Viet-
quentlyresultsin an escalationof viol- nam'.'0
ence between protest movement and However, non-violent direct action
the governmentwhich suppressesit. In within a nation, and disarmamentin
terms of political effect, violent protest the presentinternationalsituationhave
cannot be successful in the long run. a common difficulty:that there is no
Recently in Japan,for instance,violent historicalevidencethat justicewas ever
studentsprotestswere used by the po- guaranteedby these methods. In the
lice as an excuse for an increase in former case, a careful investigationof
armaments.and in the end were harshly the philosophyand strategyof Mahatma
suppressed.We are not in the age of the Gandhi and Martin Luther King gives
 Beyond the TraditionalConceptsof Peace in DifferentCultures 141
some valuablesuggestions.Conquestof
Violenceby JoanV. Bondurant(revised
ed., 1965, Univ. of CaliforniaPress) is
an importantachievementin this field.
Here, however, I wish simply to deal
with the possibilityof Japan'ssettingan
example by becoming an unarmedand
neutral country.
How can Japan, as a countrywhich,
for the first time in human history,has
a constitutionthat renouncesall war,ll
succeed in providingthe first example
of an unarmednation?
To be specific some characteristicsof
the present political situationin Japan
should be mentioned.Besides the exist-
ence of 'the peace Constitution',an im-
portantadvantageis the deep and wide-
spread popularoppositionto war. In a
poll conductedby the JapanBroadcast-
ing Corporation(NHK) in 1968, in an-
swer to the question 'What are you
most concernedabout?',the warin Viet-
nam was rankedsecond (51.7 %), next
to high prices(78.1 % respondentscould
mentionmorethanone issue). This does
not necessarilymean that the Japanese
are particularlyinterestedin peace as a
principle.It means, rather,that for the
Japanesepeople the problemof war and
peace is not remote from their daily
lives: first, they are extremelysensitive
about war because of their experience
of bombing, particularlyof the atomic
bombings,313,161 victimsof whichstill
survived in 1967 (this figure was of
those who were recognizedby the gov-
ernment);and second, the war in Viet-
nam means for many Japanese an in-
crease in the difficulties caused by
American military bases, such as air-
plane crashes, misconductof GIs and
prostitution.
Despite this attitude,Japanis directly
committedto the VietnamWar because
she provides the United States with
militarybases under an obligation im-
posed by the securitytreatybetweenthe
two countries.Furthermore,Japan has
a Self Defence Force, created by the
occupation authoritiesin 1950, at the
time of KoreanWar. With the passage
of time, the Japanese people have be-
come accustomed to the existence of
these 'illegitimate'military forces, and
the percentage of those who approve
the fait accompli has been increasing.
At the end of 1968, 17 %/ of the re-
spondentsto a public opinion poll con-
ducted by the Asahi shimbun thought
that the Self Defence Force was un-
constitutional,while 40 % thought that
it was not.12
The acceptance of the existence of
the Self Defence Force does not neces-
sarilyimplyapprovalof the maintenance
of a full-fledged army, navy, and air
force, since many of those who thought
the Force did not contravenethe Con-
stitution held the view that it was, or
should be, somethingother than a mili-
tary force. For instance, a poll taken
by the Yomiurishimbun at the end of
1968 producedthe followingresults:to
the question 'How should we deal with
the present Self Defence Force?' the
answerswere 'We should strengthenit',
12.3 %; 'We should abolish it', 6 %;
'We shouldkeep it as it is', 43.6 %; and
'We shouldtransformit into a construc-
tion corps', 26.3 %. Even among those
who think that the Self Defence Force
should be as it is, there are many who
thinkthat its raisond'etreis not military
action, but chiefly rescue-workat times
of disaster.'3For instance,80 % of the
respondentsin a 1966 governmentsur-
vey thoughtthat 'the Self Defence Force
is most useful for' rescue work at times
of disaster,and othernon-militarycoop-
erationin civilian life.14
The government party, which has
been in poweralmostpermanentlysince
the war, intends to revise the Constitu-
tion to make full-fledgedmilitaryforces
constitutional.They have so far been
142 TakeshiIshida
unsuccessful because of the strength
of popularfeeling in favor of the 'peace
Constitution',as expressedin the oppo-
sition partyslogan 'Boys!Don't take up
arms! Women! Don't send your sons
and sweetheartsto the battle field!' An
Asahi poll at the end of 1968 showed
that only 19 % favored revision of the
Constitution to allow Japan to have
full-fledged military forces, whereas
64 % opposed it.
Particularlysensitive is the popular
attitude toward nuclear armaments.In
the Asahi poll, 67 % thought that the
American nuclear umbrella actually
endangered Japan, while only 12 %
thoughtit safe. To the questionwhether
Japan would be safer if it had its own
nuclear weapons, 21.4 % thought it
safer, while 55.6 % thoughtit less safe.
In the same poll, 49.7 % thought that
war is not permissibleeven in self de-
fence. These facts leave no doubt but
that the 'peace Constitution'has taken
root so deeply that there is widespread
popular antipathyto war of any sort.
If the majorityof Japaneseis not in
favor of maintainingfull-fledged mili-
tary forces or of strengtheningthe pre-
sent Self Defence Force, then the ques-
tion naturallyarisesof how the security
of Japan is to be guaranteed.To this
question, a poll conductedin 1968 by
the Tokyoshimbunrevealsthatthe most
frequentanswerwas 'by the United Na-
tions' (30.4 %), and next 'by a policy
of unarmedneutrality'(20.3 %). Inci-
dentally,16.7 %answered'by maintain-
ing the SecurityTreatywith the United
States', and 15.1 % 'by strengthening
the Self Defence Force'.'5
Although 73.9 % of the interviewees
in the Asahi poll thought that Japan
should maintainits securityby its own
efforts, not many of them thoughtthat
she should do so by strengtheningthe
Self Defence Force; by contrast,not a
few thought that unarmed neutrality
was the correct course. It is not very
clear yet in the popularmind, however,
how Japan'ssecurityis to be maintained
by unarmedneutrality.
Before dealing with this problem,
something should be said about the
immediatedifficultywhich hinders Ja-
pan's progresstowardunarmedneutral-
ity. This is the policy line of the govern-
ment, which diverges sharply from
the popular attitude described above.
Although many Japaneseare impatient
with the fact that the government,ignor-
ing the trend of public opinion, has in-
directlyinvolved Japan in the Vietnam
War and has strenthenedthe Self De-
fence Force, the governmentparty has
been in power continuouslyfor more
than twentyyears,and thereis not much
likelihoodthat the governingpartywill
be changedin the near future.
One importantreason for the exist-
ence of a semi-permanentgovernment
partyis that at electiontimemanyvoters
are concernedless with the policies a
candidateadvocatesthanwith the short-
range return which they can expect
fromhim. Candidatesof the government
partyare, of course,in a betterposition
to influence budget allocations for a
certain district or group to which the
voter belongs. The majority of voters
are enlightenedenough to know which
candidatewill be most useful to them
in the short run, but not sophisticated
enough to realize that more important
is the problemof which policy will be
most valuableto themin the long run.'6
This sort of 'practical'attitudeis of-
ten supportedby the traditionalattitude
toward harmonywithin the group. Al-
though national conformity, with the
Emperorat its center,was brokendown
as a result of the defeat, group con-
formity remains strong in fragmented
sectorsof society. Thus, 'the interestof
the district'or 'the interestof the group'
can easily be used, buttressedby group
 Beyond the Traditional Concepts of Peace in Different Cultures
conformity,to encourage a bloc vote.
The ostracism which was describedin
the first partof this paperis an example
of the strengthof this groupconformity.
This sort of groupconformityoriginated
in communalrurallife ('the peace of the
village'), and was very often entangled
with traditionalpolitical apathy which
tended to lead to passive obedience to
the local bosses and other superiors.
Although both traditional communal
ties and traditionalpoliticalapathyhave
been declining,they are being replaced
by an increasein the solidarityof groups
devotedto more 'practical'interestsand
a new type of political apathy arising
from the natureof mass society.
These two new tendencies are, in
differentways, relatedto the traditional
Japanese concept of 'peace', which is
entwined with that of harmony. Har-
mony withinthe groupmeans that each
member must behave in the same way
as the others, thus emphasizingthe im-
portance of unanimity.In the case of
political apathy, 'peace' tends to mean
that in order to maintain a 'peaceful'
individual(or family)life it is betternot
to do anything which might produce
social conflict or disturbance.This sort
of politicalapathyresultingfrom privat-
ization in mass society is not peculiar
to Japan.One characteristicof political
apathyin Japanis its entanglementwith
the traditionalconcept of peace. In to-
day's Japan, there is an urgentneed to
put an end to the traditional fusion
between concepts of 'peace' and 'har-
mony'. What is necessaryis the emer-
gence of non-conformism,to combat
this weaknessin the traditionalJapanese
conceptof peace.
In present-dayJapan, there is indeed
a strong feeling of resentmentagainst
establishedsocial order,fromparliament
democracyto the bureaucratizedhier-
archy of individualorganizations,such
as large firms. This feeling has been
143
expressed,for example, in the form of
protest movementsagainst the govern-
ment,or againstanyauthorityconsidered
to be in chargeof the establishedorder.
Radical studentshave organizedviolent
protest movementsagainst the Security
Treaty between the United States and
Japan and against American military
bases. At the same time, they have
foughtagainstthe administrations of the
universities,which are, in their view, a
part of the 'establishment'.No doubt,
their violent resistanceis the projection
of a serious discontent. It is probably
also true that in order to overcome
traditionalconformism,it is necessary
to create conflict. There are, however,
two difficultiesin the violent action of
the radicalstudents.One is the difficulty
caused by the violence itself: sporadic
acts of violence will either not be ef-
fectivebecausethey can be supressedby
a strongerphysicalforce, i.e., the police;
or if they are strong enough to over-
come police power (not very likely ex-
cept for a short time), there is a danger
of the country falling into a chaotic
situation in which democratic proce-
dures cannot operate. The other is the
difficultyarisingfrom their methodsof
strengtheningsolidaritywithintheirown
organizations,which often result in in-
creasedinner conformism.
If the traditionof group conformity
is as strongas has been said and can be
found even within dissenting groups
such as labor unions, where is the em-
bryo of emergingnon-conformism?As
the sense of alienationin mass society
grows,distrustin the authorityof group
conformityhas emergedbecause of the
stagnantsituationcreatedby such con-
formities. The people's dependenceon
the group to which they belong is so
strong that their disillusionmentis also
serious.
Peace organizationshave not been
exceptions to this rule. As they grew,
144 Takeshi Ishida
they became vast in size and at the
same time bureaucratized in theirorgan-
izational structure.Moreover,factional
conflicts due to serious disputesamong
the socialist parties have resulted in
splits in the peace organizations.In-
creasedpolitical apathyis one result of
this sort of situation;and there has also
been another result. Some people, still
few in number,whoarediscontentedwith
the state of the peace organizations,are
beginningto realizethat they have only
themselves to depend on to improve
presentconditions.Whetheror not they
belong to an established organization,
they feel it necessarryto do something
on their own initiative.Sometimes,they
are so distrustfulof the leadershipofany
huge organizationthat they start form-
ing very small groups, which can be
controlledby the membersthemselves,
for civic and peace movements.In fact,
for the first time Japanhas a multitude
of voluntary groups ('voluntary'in a
strict sense) to campaignfor peace.
At the moment the people who are
participatingin this sort of activity are
still relativelyfew in number,compared
with those organizedby huge organiza-
tions. However, two examplesillustrate
this growing tendency. One is the de-
monstrationorganized by a federation
of more than two hundred of these
voluntarygroups to protest against the
war inVietnam,which mobilized10,000
marchersin Tokyo on June 15, 1968.
The other is the movement organized
by a federation of peace groups to
distributethe English translationof a
Japanese correspondent'sreport from
Vietnam. When a series of ten articles
writtenby a correspondentin Vietnam
appearedin The Asahi in 1967, 3,390
letterswere sent to the editorexpressing
readers'views on the articles.And as a
result of an appeal in one letter for an
English translationof the articlesto be
sent abroad,particularlyto the United
States, a movementemergedwhich suc-
ceeded in despatching 30,000 copies
within a year. Other similar examples
could be added,l7but it is still too early
for us to be optimisticabout any rapid
growth of civic concern in Japan. Al-
thoughthe trendtowardovercomingthe
weakness of the traditional Japanese
concept of peace is still limited to a
small sector of society, if it can become
so strong that the people's wish for
peace can dictate governmentpolicy so
as to realize the spirit of the Constitu-
tion, which says in its Preamble:'never
again shall we be visited with the hor-
rorsof war throughthe actionofgovern-
ment', then can the Japanese have a
great future. Of course, this can be
achieved only through perennial resis-
tance to the governmentby non-violent
means. And if non-violentresistanceto
the governmentcan be strong enough
to be successfulin controllingit, we do
not need to be muchconcernedover the
absenceof armaments, becausethepeople
could use the same methodof resistance,
with even greaterintensity,againstalien
dominationin the event of invasion.
It is difficult to answer questions
about the political efficacy of unarmed
defence with assurance,because of the
lack of historicalevidence. All we can
do is to answerindirectlyby presenting
a negative view of the problem. Con-
sider the recent Czech crisis. If the
Czechs had had a much more powerful
armyand had resistedwith force, would
the result really have been better?No
one seems to be able to answer this
questionwith assurance.Insteadof cat-
egoricallyanswering'yes' or 'no' to such
a hypothetical question as whether a
countrycan be safe withoutarmaments,
what ought to be done is to decide
where we should direct our efforts. If
the direction is clear and if we know
how to proceed,then the way will open
before us, slowly, perhaps,but steadily.
 Beyond the TraditionalConceptsof Peace in DifferentCultures 145

NOTES
1 The girl published a book: Satsuki Ishikawa, Murahachibu no ki (A story of Ostracism).
Tokyo: Rironsha, 1953. A brief description of the affair can be found in Time, Aug. 25, 1952.
2 Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can't Wait (New York, 1963), pp. 27-28.
3 Theologisches Worterbuchzum Neuen Testament, herausgegeben von Gerhard Kittel. Bd.
II (Stuttgart, 1935) pp. 400 f.
4 Johs. Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, I-II (Oxford, 1926), pp. 263 f.

5 Max Weber, Gesammelte Aufsdtze zur Religionssoziologie Bd. II (Tuibingen, 1923),

pp. 126ff.
6 Wallace E. Caldwell, Hellenic Concepts of Peace. (New York, 1919), p. 69.
7 Isocrates, On the Peace, with an English Translation by George Norlin, vol. 2., The Loeb
Classical Library (London, 1929).
8 J. Duncan M. Derrett, 'The Maintenance of Peace in the Hindu World: Practice and
Theory', The Indian Year Book of International Affairs, vol. VIII. 1959, pp. 361-387.
9 Max Weber, Gesammelte Aufsaitzezur Religionssoziologie, Bd. I (Tilbingen, 1922), p. 441.
10 New York Times, April 7, 1968.
11 Article Nine of the Constitution clearly states: 'Aspiring sincerely to an international
peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign
right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.
In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as
well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state
will not be recognized.'
12 Published in The Asahi shimbun, January 5, 1969. This poll used a random nation-wide
sample of 3,000 persons over 20 years of age.
13 The Yomiuri shimbun, January 1, 1969. The sample of 10,000 interviewees was chosen
by stratified random sampling from persons between 19 and 79 years of age.
14 Asahi shimbun anzenhosh5 chosakai (The Asahi shimbun Research Group on the
Security Problem), 70-nen no seiji kadai (Political Tasks in 1970), 1967, p. 162.
15 The Tokyo shimbun, January 1, 1969. This poll used a random nation-wide sample of
3,000 persons over 20 years of age. For more detailed information about Japanese public
opinion on foreign policy, see Takeshi Ishida, 'Japanese Public Opinion and Foreign Policy',
Peace Research in Japan, ed. by the Japan Peace Research Group (Tokyo, 1967).
16 For more detailed characteristics of Japanese Society, see Takeshi Ishida, Japanese
Society (New York: Random House, forthcoming).
17 For more detail, see Takishi Ishida, 'Emerging or Eclipsing Citizenship - A Study of
Change in Political Attitudes in Postwar Japan', The Developing Economies, vol. VI, No. 4
(Dec. 1968), published by the Institute of Asian Economic Affairs, Tokyo.

5 Journal of Peace Research