1 00:00:00,180 --> 00:00:04,140 And our final speaker of the day is Professor Koji Nakamura, 2 00:00:04,140 --> 00:00:10,260 who's a professor emeritus of international education at the Canadian University in Japan. 3 00:00:10,260 --> 00:00:18,570 We are delighted that Kohji is a friend of Artspace. He has joined us on previous occasions and he's been in touch with us over the years. 4 00:00:18,570 --> 00:00:23,310 And what strikes me about Kohji, he's a personal inspiration to me. 5 00:00:23,310 --> 00:00:30,780 He brings his intellect, his life experience, especially in Japan and really a great deal of passion to this subject. 6 00:00:30,780 --> 00:00:32,730 So a true inspiration. 7 00:00:32,730 --> 00:00:40,680 And this is why also we wanted him to be the closing speaker for the entire day, because he's going to encourage us because of his geography, 8 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:49,050 because of where he was born, because of what he essentially can appreciate in a more proximate way than many of us can. 9 00:00:49,050 --> 00:00:56,250 His message is very important to us. And so, Professor Nakamura, my friend, Koji, you have the floor. 10 00:00:56,250 --> 00:01:01,710 Thank you. The better. Can you hear me? Perfect. Thank you. 11 00:01:01,710 --> 00:01:12,270 And also good. Good evening, everyone. Local time in Japan is now nine o'clock and you must be very hungry for lunch. 12 00:01:12,270 --> 00:01:18,480 I haven't eaten dinner, but I'll do my best as time is running out. 13 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:23,070 The topic is the dilemma for education and peace. 14 00:01:23,070 --> 00:01:31,440 My educational philosophy is cultivating humanity by universalising the human crisis of other races. 15 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,570 Others as our own. 16 00:01:33,570 --> 00:01:46,410 And I have worked for peace education for nearly forty seven years and that a key concept one is Article nine and Japan's constitutional pacifism, 17 00:01:46,410 --> 00:01:51,300 which secure peace and security major. This is very important. 18 00:01:51,300 --> 00:02:01,320 No. Two Historical Resonantly Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945 and also NPT in 1976 and also TPN double today. 19 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,560 Discuss what to discuss 2017. 20 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:16,620 And this year, number three, the tragedy of Fukushima nuclear weapon, nuclear power plants, which has melted away in 2011, still very serious. 21 00:02:16,620 --> 00:02:18,210 It's not finished. 22 00:02:18,210 --> 00:02:31,260 It takes another 40 years to clean the water and contaminated water now before the challenge of the pandemic coronavirus this year and last year. 23 00:02:31,260 --> 00:02:38,100 And these fact have global implications for sustainable peace and human survival. 24 00:02:38,100 --> 00:02:45,100 And let me just reveal the significance of our Article nine of the Japanese constitution, 25 00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:51,060 the Constitution, Article nine declare the Japanese people forever denounce war, 26 00:02:51,060 --> 00:02:57,810 the sovereign right of the nation, and the threat of the use of force as a means of settling international dispute. 27 00:02:57,810 --> 00:03:03,330 This is why this was established in 1946. 28 00:03:03,330 --> 00:03:13,500 For the past 75 years, no Japanese self-defence forces, no Japanese police officer kill any single international person. 29 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:26,160 And this is our pride, very important. But we have the charity Public Opinion's. 30 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:33,660 This is this May 3rd, this is the day of the Constitution Day, 31 00:03:33,660 --> 00:03:43,680 32 percent of Japanese people do not want to reform the Article nine of the Constitution and 63 percent of those who keep that. 32 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:49,140 I believe that it is the most important part of the constitutional pacifism. 33 00:03:49,140 --> 00:03:57,210 And this is very encouraging and I am impressed. Eighty percent of Japanese women do not want to reform the Article nine. 34 00:03:57,210 --> 00:04:03,210 This is very important, but still 28 percent want to reform the arginine. 35 00:04:03,210 --> 00:04:09,700 They support the ruling party's change of constitutions. 36 00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:19,060 And another survey, 76 percent feel the Article nine of Japanese constitution has contributed to peace and security after 37 00:04:19,060 --> 00:04:29,800 the World War and also 56 percent believe the Article nine prevented Japan from becoming militarily DU. 38 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:38,830 But we have a dilemma. The former prime minister of a changed Japan, what is called a normal country, 39 00:04:38,830 --> 00:04:46,110 which can start a war, and our sitting prime minister succeeded this policy. 40 00:04:46,110 --> 00:04:55,260 Number one, the Japanese army export ban, which we are very proud of since 1967, was abolished in 2014, 41 00:04:55,260 --> 00:05:01,440 which allowed the transfer of the military defence facilities to foreign countries. 42 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,250 This is what is called dangerous trade. 43 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:15,450 From our point of view. Very dangerous number to the ruling party always emphasised a new interpretation of the Japanese constitution, 44 00:05:15,450 --> 00:05:23,040 which allow the collective security with the US and allied nations, which goes against our Constitution. 45 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:34,800 Another reality and the dilemma is that despite the fact many of our culture and Larry in the Hiroshima city 46 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:42,030 calling on Japan's government to join the TPN double and all the intellectuals and educators supported, 47 00:05:42,030 --> 00:05:45,390 but Japan will not join in and double, 48 00:05:45,390 --> 00:05:54,690 the government spokesman said clearly because we are under the umbrella by the USA in terms of the deterrent power. 49 00:05:54,690 --> 00:06:09,330 And the point is, no. For the former secretary general of LDP, our leading ruling parties, he is very conservative and also a very Right-Wing Person. 50 00:06:09,330 --> 00:06:16,960 However, he said. Japan should maintain Article nine of the Japanese constitution, by all means, 51 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:26,520 because he participated in the eastern Pacific War and experienced the atrocity and tragedies of the war and he died. 52 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,060 OK, now Peace Studies Symposium is very important, 53 00:06:30,060 --> 00:06:40,980 which was sponsored by the Hiroshima city and Hiroshima Prefecture and Board of Education every year they. 54 00:06:40,980 --> 00:06:52,110 Hold the symposium for the public school teachers and many teachers came here and also they held the symposium in Kobe, Tokyo, Osaka, 55 00:06:52,110 --> 00:07:04,770 Yokohama, and teachers studied and trained to take their students to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki school excursion is very important. 56 00:07:04,770 --> 00:07:13,830 Almost all the Japanese public school student, elementary school, junior high school go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 57 00:07:13,830 --> 00:07:20,430 and last year twenty two thousand four hundred eighty eight elementary schools visited. 58 00:07:20,430 --> 00:07:31,830 And also in the course of peace studies, 900 nearly 1000 junior high schools also visited Hiroshima. 59 00:07:31,830 --> 00:07:38,700 One of the very junior high school in Kobe visited Hiroshima, all seniors, students, 60 00:07:38,700 --> 00:07:49,830 and they declared peace declaration by themselves and they sang the peaceful song, peaceful song for the citizens. 61 00:07:49,830 --> 00:07:55,680 Also piano, which survived after Hiroshima bombing. 62 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:01,620 We had a recital in Asia in Tokyo Prefecture and is about to shot. 63 00:08:01,620 --> 00:08:08,340 The survivor of the bombing gave a lecture and an old many, many students listened. 64 00:08:08,340 --> 00:08:17,880 And this is very important to Liz. Then what is a dilemma in public schools after the atomic bomb and the courts into the past? 65 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:26,670 Average age of the survivor is now 83. It's very difficult to rescind directory and teachers who lead peace. 66 00:08:26,670 --> 00:08:36,720 Education efforts were born after the war. And the baby boomers and my teacher always say no war, no weapons, no nuclear weapons every day. 67 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:41,880 So automatically we have the action to avoid the war. 68 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:47,670 But young people today depend on their education. 69 00:08:47,670 --> 00:08:51,930 The problem is the crisis for peace and human rights. 70 00:08:51,930 --> 00:09:02,450 Education, who used to have lots in a week. Has cut off and decreased by academic pressure with a numerical goals, efficiency, 71 00:09:02,450 --> 00:09:09,850 profitability, encouraged by the government, and this is very serious. 72 00:09:09,850 --> 00:09:24,520 But he knows about his cultural foundation, encourage Novosel to study course, and many university is now taking advantage of this programmes. 73 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:31,690 And we are very proud of our City University, which has Institute for Peace and also Hiroshima University. 74 00:09:31,690 --> 00:09:39,420 National University has a Dr. Post Graduate School for Peace Studies like Oxford. 75 00:09:39,420 --> 00:09:48,940 In my class, I have put my student teacher to make a presentation about Hiroshima and also nuclear weapons. 76 00:09:48,940 --> 00:09:55,630 And the nuclear test, by making presentations to man has become much more powerful. 77 00:09:55,630 --> 00:10:03,460 And they will frewer the peace for public schools after graduation. 78 00:10:03,460 --> 00:10:13,720 And according to my research, about 89 percent of my students support Article nine and. 79 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:25,300 The question is, should we export weapons, fortunately, about 70 percent of our students disagree, do not export weapons. 80 00:10:25,300 --> 00:10:30,820 But recently, because North Korea is a threat and the Japanese government propaganda, 81 00:10:30,820 --> 00:10:37,210 forty three point two percent agreed to strengthen Japan's defence, this is very serious. 82 00:10:37,210 --> 00:10:43,340 So we have a contradiction and a dilemma that we have a wonderful. 83 00:10:43,340 --> 00:10:54,740 Great of the fires, this was fire fries made by DeBerry's animated film for Peace and also Peace Note, 84 00:10:54,740 --> 00:11:01,430 and every school in Schimmer has a library for Peace know. 85 00:11:01,430 --> 00:11:13,490 As a professor of the gyppy International Cooperation Agency, I invited many professors and young researchers and doctors in a to the peace studies. 86 00:11:13,490 --> 00:11:17,570 And I'm very much impressed by the young people from Asia. 87 00:11:17,570 --> 00:11:21,970 They study very hard, the peace and the Japanese constitution. 88 00:11:21,970 --> 00:11:28,550 And this is like for my journal and the artist is wonderful. 89 00:11:28,550 --> 00:11:37,550 That's why amongst the JICA students participant, they are adults, 80, 93 percent agree. 90 00:11:37,550 --> 00:11:46,160 Article nine of the Japanese constitution. We don't have to change this, that we have a pillar of the peace. 91 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:54,020 No one is three non-nuclear principles. We cannot manufacture, we cannot possess, which are not introduced. 92 00:11:54,020 --> 00:12:04,480 We cannot sell nuclear weapons to other countries. And Tokyo's compliance with the NPT, but we have a contradiction. 93 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:18,470 Tokyo defiance on the US extended nuclear. Then call city in my city has a nuclear weapons free port since 1975, which is very important. 94 00:12:18,470 --> 00:12:26,180 My solution is European people. You have OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 95 00:12:26,180 --> 00:12:34,790 This is very important to prevent a war which should be applied in ASEAN nations in Southeast Asia. 96 00:12:34,790 --> 00:12:38,950 Good news. I'm going to finish very quickly. 97 00:12:38,950 --> 00:12:52,010 Last month, the three LDP, the ruling party, lost their seats because of the make up election and constitutional Democratic Party, 98 00:12:52,010 --> 00:12:57,200 the major opposition party got three seats. 99 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:04,730 This is good news. Now, the principle is the what is the intellectuals? 100 00:13:04,730 --> 00:13:14,390 We intellectuals. The task should be expressed to anniversary the crisis, to give greater human scope to what a particular race or nation suffered, 101 00:13:14,390 --> 00:13:24,110 and to associate with that experience with the suffering of others as it was a side said nineteen nineteen ninety three. 102 00:13:24,110 --> 00:13:28,400 That's why President Obama came to Hiroshima. 103 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:38,940 We are very much impressed and he held a very emotional embrace with hibakusha, nuclear survivors. 104 00:13:38,940 --> 00:13:46,410 And we have a morning light that she is the undersecretary general of the United 105 00:13:46,410 --> 00:13:52,410 Nations and she gave a lectures for young people and for people in Japan, 106 00:13:52,410 --> 00:14:01,050 young people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is now creating the virtual visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Museum from all over the world. 107 00:14:01,050 --> 00:14:09,870 This is very important. But she is anticipating nuclear war happening in East Asia here or Middle East. 108 00:14:09,870 --> 00:14:14,070 No winners and Japan should be observer. 109 00:14:14,070 --> 00:14:19,860 We are supporting this idea in this U.N. nuclear abolition. 110 00:14:19,860 --> 00:14:24,480 We have fantastic materials for peace, especially mothers. 111 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:32,760 Prior, all my students, graduate students and undergraduate cried after watching this one. 112 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,730 And this would really increase the awareness. 113 00:14:35,730 --> 00:14:45,810 Even the many American exchange students, those who believe it was the right to use nuclear weapons, but they changed it, transformed their awareness. 114 00:14:45,810 --> 00:14:55,290 And also the U.S. has many, many good. OK, so it was I said you cannot deal with others without a profound knowledge of the culture. 115 00:14:55,290 --> 00:15:03,120 Society and force never works because we cannot destroy the will of people. 116 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:14,100 This is very true. I was a member of Comparative International Education Society before George Bush had ordered to attack Iraq. 117 00:15:14,100 --> 00:15:22,230 We wrote the petition and asked not to attack Iraq, but they together with Tony Blair, they started a war. 118 00:15:22,230 --> 00:15:26,490 Now, the result is many terrorists in the east. 119 00:15:26,490 --> 00:15:36,750 So my suggestion, final suggestion is. I know North Korea develop nuclear weapons and this threat, but. 120 00:15:36,750 --> 00:15:43,700 We know two million. North Korean people are now dying of hunger, famine this year, 121 00:15:43,700 --> 00:15:54,440 so humanitarian support to North Korea is very important, more important than sanctions and containment policy. 122 00:15:54,440 --> 00:16:05,450 This is my. In conclusion, the both of no no more Hiroshima, no more Narasaki and no more Fukushima should not be silenced. 123 00:16:05,450 --> 00:16:10,880 There should be global resonance of these voices for the sake of human survival. 124 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,060 When I was a junior high school student, we learnt this word. 125 00:16:14,060 --> 00:16:23,720 Finally, Dr. King, Martin Luther King said, We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or we will perish together as a food. 126 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:32,990 Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Kohji, Professor Nakamura, for those comments, I was struck, of course also the generational shift. 127 00:16:32,990 --> 00:16:39,590 We talked about it in a slightly different context in the earlier exchange, but here you're also contending with a generational shift. 128 00:16:39,590 --> 00:16:46,340 I really appreciated the experiential aspects of learning the visits to Hiroshima, 129 00:16:46,340 --> 00:16:52,730 the listening to the piano that survived the bombing, the incredible new materials that are being prepared. 130 00:16:52,730 --> 00:16:57,770 It's really very, very impressive and the testimony of survivors and so forth. 131 00:16:57,770 --> 00:17:01,640 And then finally, a note that in two different ways. You mentioned one was empathy. 132 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:08,360 I mean, you saw the empathy literally between world leaders and the difference that that could make and contributing to understanding. 133 00:17:08,360 --> 00:17:15,200 And then the very final quotations are really about solidarity, which aside from a personal relationship on a global scale, 134 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:22,580 to really feel that we have much in common with everyone else all around the world and that we all must take care of one another. 135 00:17:22,580 --> 00:17:27,440 So thank you for the very unique overview that really only you could bring to us. 136 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:32,750 And it will give us much more reflection. I am extremely mindful of the time. 137 00:17:32,750 --> 00:17:40,850 I have one question that actually appeared from an earlier session, which I'd like to pose to the panellists from this one one minute each. 138 00:17:40,850 --> 00:17:45,900 And this is a pretty good timekeeper. And then we'll turn to Liz for closing comments anymore. 139 00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:50,870 A few minutes we might have for additional observations about the day. 140 00:17:50,870 --> 00:18:00,620 The question that came in had to do with what about the creative and spiritual and emotional elements of our shared humanity? 141 00:18:00,620 --> 00:18:09,740 How could this better inform the peace, dialogue and the dialogue about nuclear weapons and what difference might that make? 142 00:18:09,740 --> 00:18:12,280 So I'm going to begin in the order that we presented. 143 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:22,700 So first, Jeremy, for one moment, a minute of observations and then Jamie and then finally Kohji and then Kohji you can hand off to your friend Liz. 144 00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:33,270 Thank you. Yeah, I think the school curriculum has to be reformed for us to be able to better face the challenges that face humanity. 145 00:18:33,270 --> 00:18:39,450 And actually I did a little bit of personal investigation through my family, and I have some relations in Berlin. 146 00:18:39,450 --> 00:18:45,180 And these students have had quite a good education in this subject through a variety of subjects, 147 00:18:45,180 --> 00:18:52,890 physics, where they study the actual mechanism of nuclear fission and fusion in literature. 148 00:18:52,890 --> 00:18:58,860 They study the play about the development of nuclear weapons. 149 00:18:58,860 --> 00:19:05,820 And in in German, I think now or in history, they were studying the politics. 150 00:19:05,820 --> 00:19:10,920 But but clearly, this is a subject that could be in a range of different different contexts. 151 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:15,150 I'm quite encouraged by the fact that religious studies tackles this issue. 152 00:19:15,150 --> 00:19:19,050 It just probably doesn't have enough time on the on the knowledge feature. 153 00:19:19,050 --> 00:19:30,750 But an American teacher who I contacted in this research said that she always reads to Ten Days, the John Hersey book on Hiroshima. 154 00:19:30,750 --> 00:19:35,190 And it has an incredible as literature. So that's in the literature course. 155 00:19:35,190 --> 00:19:40,950 So I think we can spread the knowledge of this through a range of subjects. 156 00:19:40,950 --> 00:19:50,020 Thank you, that's a wonderful multidisciplinary insight, which is something that is core to also how these approaches everything it does during. 157 00:19:50,020 --> 00:19:58,210 Thanks so much for this question, so I'll just point out that I think a key aspect of leading towards this discussion and eventual 158 00:19:58,210 --> 00:20:05,230 ratification of the TPN w where these conferences on the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons issues. 159 00:20:05,230 --> 00:20:13,060 So it's kind of zoom out from that. I think what often, unfortunately, is missing from the nuclear dialogue is, you know, 160 00:20:13,060 --> 00:20:17,590 the reality check of what we're talking about are massively destructive weapons. 161 00:20:17,590 --> 00:20:25,840 Right. And I think it's something that we as nuclear scholars in particular and as scholars need to constantly be reminding ourselves of. 162 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:32,200 Right at the end of the day, these are weapons that could have massive global destructive impact. 163 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,550 And so I think regardless of which side of this conversation you fall into, 164 00:20:36,550 --> 00:20:46,150 whether you fall into the firm disarmament position or you still believe that nuclear weapons do serve an effective deterrent purpose, 165 00:20:46,150 --> 00:20:52,600 I think it is critical that you address that from this humanitarian aspect. 166 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:58,450 Right. And so I think that the start the disarmament side of things does that really well and effective. 167 00:20:58,450 --> 00:21:01,960 And it resonates quite a bit with public, with the public. 168 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:10,450 And I think there's much more room for opportunity for those on the deterrent side of the spectrum to discuss how, you know, from their perspective, 169 00:21:10,450 --> 00:21:20,240 being having nuclear weapons and maintaining these arsenals helps prevent these massive conflicts that define a generation. 170 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:21,340 Right. 171 00:21:21,340 --> 00:21:28,180 And so that's something I think that Scott Sagan has spoken about, how deterrence advocates need to address this side of the conversation as well. 172 00:21:28,180 --> 00:21:33,730 And nuclear scholars as a whole should be keeping that in mind. 173 00:21:33,730 --> 00:21:40,630 Thank you so much, Jamie, and your comments also brought to mind the power of the imagination, focussing on the positive vision, 174 00:21:40,630 --> 00:21:47,530 but also you reminded that the imagination can also appreciate the destructive vision of what we're dealing with here. 175 00:21:47,530 --> 00:21:51,010 And in some sense, those two forces are intention. Thank you. 176 00:21:51,010 --> 00:22:05,680 And finally, Kohji bravery, family, education and public school school education, for example, President Truman, who ordered to use nuclear weapons. 177 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:15,190 However, his granddaughter read the atomic bomb poetries and he found the picture stories 178 00:22:15,190 --> 00:22:22,030 and he led the search kind of peaceful stories and poetry for children. 179 00:22:22,030 --> 00:22:28,840 And that's why humour change. And another thing is the school education. 180 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:34,660 We teachers are not only teaching facts, but also we are activist. 181 00:22:34,660 --> 00:22:41,740 This is very important. We are not machines, but we must be very careful the government try to control. 182 00:22:41,740 --> 00:22:47,870 Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you, Koji and Liz, thank you very much. 183 00:22:47,870 --> 00:22:54,650 And leaving it to Liz for concluding remarks and thanks to. 184 00:22:54,650 --> 00:23:04,760 Well, it falls to me to say a very warm thank you to everybody who has made this conference happen this morning. 185 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:10,200 Thank you from all of us to all of you speakers and hosts. 186 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:16,290 And to Marilena, who has kept us all together as Zouma host in the background. 187 00:23:16,290 --> 00:23:26,590 Thank you, Erlinda. So a greeting of peace from Oxford and I think from all of us to all of us, 188 00:23:26,590 --> 00:23:36,730 and may we use the information that we've learnt this morning to take us forward, to inform others, 189 00:23:36,730 --> 00:23:45,730 to inform our own action as part of civil society and may the world come to a better, 190 00:23:45,730 --> 00:23:54,190 more sensible, more empathetic place on this and other subjects of peace and conflict. 191 00:23:54,190 --> 00:24:01,071 So thank you very much. That ends the conference formerly.