The Ideology Of Peace In Post-war Japan. Research

The post-war pacifism is a prescriptive discourse system with multiple meanings. From theperspective of the history of social thinking, this paper combines the pacifism in Japan with theevolution of the Japanese post-war system, trying to explore the issue in the "post-war context" ofJapan. The post-war evolution of pacifism in Japan is analyzed from three perspectives: thepolitical activities of system power and anti-system power in post-war Japan, the utterance of theintelligentsia and social activities. This research is a systematic study of pacific theory in Japan,whose core is the Japanese Constitution. The essence, basic characteristics, the development andthe theoretical and practical significance of pacifism in post-war Japan are also expounded in thispaper, through which readers can catch a glimpse of the development of politics and socialthinking in post-war Japan.Judging from the perspective of time, the post-war pacifism in Japan and the pacifism inmodern times are coherent and hereditary, which is reflected in the special post-war context as amixture of political activities, individual pacifism and pacific movement. The Constitution ofJapan provides a solid foundation for the development of pacifism in Japan and the pacificprinciple revealed in the constitution is the key to the post-war pacifism. The concept of non-war,demilitarization, neutrality in the constitutional pacific principle can find its manifestation in thepacific thinking of intelligentsia and the mass peaceful movement guided by this thinking. On theother hand, the constitutional pacific principle encompasses the pacific thinking and action ofshouldering the responsibility for reflecting on the war and seeking the co-existence with theinvaded countries. This principle is mainly revealed in the long-term reflections on warresponsibility and object awareness on the part of the intellectual, projecting onto the internationalpolitical views and the specific political activities of reconciliation of politicians and politicalparty people.The development of the post-war pacific can be divided into the following stages:From right after the beginning of WWII to1960when the anti-US-Japan Security Treatystruggle broke out, the peaceful talk advocated by the intelligentsia developed into anunprecedented national peaceful movement. The San Francisco Peace Treaty can be regarded asa dividing line. What exists before it is the peace forum led by the intelligentsia from all walks oflife, whose theme is reconciliation. What follows is the shift of the pacific theme and the pacificthinking and movement centering on the protection of constitution, anti-nuclear weapon andanti-U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. After the anti-U.S.-Japan Security Treaty movement, the UnitedStates launched an aggression against Vietnam and there occurred an anti-war campaignworldwide. In Japan, a pacific thinking came into being, which emphasizes opposition against the state principle and disobedience to the state on the part of individuals. This thinking is supportedby a new form of organization and a new value system. Thus, civilian pacifism began to play arole on the political stage. Beheiren(Japan peace for Vietnam) led by Oda Makoto became themost important stage where the masses practiced freely the anti-war pacific thinking after WWII.Besides, a number of politicians make continuous and fruitful efforts to change the relationshipbetween Japan and other Asian countries, China in particular. Their pacific thinking is generallyrevealed on their view on Asia and on international politics.The pacifism, which was characterized by the civilian free participation in the1960s and1970s, continued to play a vital role in mobilizing social movements and influencing people. Thevalue concept of civilian co-existence is further confirmed and popularized. This pacific thinkingis fully shown in the anti-nuclear weapon campaign and open city campaign in the1980s. In theearly1990s, the conclusion of the cold war together with the gulf war put the world order in achaotic situation. At the same time, Showa was replaced by Heisei in Japan. The two factorsoffered a chance for Japan to break through the restraints of the current domestic and internationalsystems. Thus, reforming the constitution became a social and political focus and protectingconstitution model (the oppositional model against reforming constitution) took shape again. Thepacific thinking after the cold war centered on the protection of the ninth article of the JapaneseConstitution and on the confirmation of its value. The peaceful movement of protecting theconstitution, which was presented by Kyujo no kai, continued its form of civilian free participationand found new ways in implementing its theory. In addition, the fermentation of war responsibilitytheory strengthened the consciousness of the victimizers, but the consciousness was far fromenough.The evolution of the post-war pacifism in Japan shows: pacifism with the constitutionalpacific principle as the core was part of the post-war system and was constrained by the post-warstructure and the domestic structure of Japan. Pacifism took different forms at different stages inthe history of Japan and its influence decreased with the disintegration of the post-war structure.As a result, pacifism in post-war Japan was essentially the result from practical choice andinfluence. Its realistic foundation had changed and its influence would be inevitably weakened.However, the pacifism in post-war Japan has not ended yet, for there remain the advance ofcivilian society and the pacific theory which transcends the national principle, emphasizesindividual rights for peace and existence and respects the constitutional pacific principle.