April–June 2014, Volume 41
Features
Building an East Asian Community: Roles of Religions
Against the backdrop of tense international situations in East Asia, the International Peace Corps of Religions (IPCR) has been promoting discussions to deepen understanding among religious leaders, scholars, and NGO officers in South Korea, China, and Japan through its annual international seminars. With the objective of building an East Asian Community, IPCR has been making epic efforts to find ways to heal wounds caused by past Japanese militarism and to build a peace community where people of East Asia can trust each other.
The participants in the fifth IPCR International Seminar in Yokohama affirmed that our countries share the Chinese concept of the unity of heaven and humankind, and that this concept is relevant to the participants’ religious values. We have also learned about the participants’ encouraging commitment to making concrete action plans, such as prayer meetings, peace campaigns, and peace education, and task forces to implement them.
We hope to learn more about ways for religious organizations to contribute to a peace community in East Asia and of sharing ideas about those ways with people in other countries in the world.
Features
Building a Common East Asian Identity
by Masahiro Nemoto
Early in the twentieth century, Japan invaded, plundered, and colonized its neighbors. If we Japanese are to play an active role in the creation of an East Asian community, we must sincerely reflect on and atone for the acts of aggression that Japan committed.
The Roles of Politics and Religions in Building an East Asian Community
by Kim Sunggon
Europe . . . established the European Union in 1993 through reconciliation and cooperation, keys to their plan for common prosperity. This compares starkly with the situation in East Asia. . . . Why has Europe succeeded in building a common bloc while East Asia has not?
Trilateral Future-Oriented Cooperation among Japan, China, and South Korea
by Ma Junwei
There is massive scope for cooperation among [Japan, China, and South Korea] in several areas, including East Asian security, economic cooperation within the framework of free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnership agreements (EPAs), and action on environmental issues and infectious diseases.
China, South Korea, and Japan: Common Features and Issues
by Yoshiaki Sanada
The relationship of Japan with both China and South Korea within the context of the post-nineteenth-century history of East Asia has been one of colonial rule and war, and this has given rise to deep-rooted and complicated national sentiments that are characterized by hostility and distrust.
A Shortcut to Establishing an East Asian Peace Community: Welcoming the Other through Sharing Universal Values
by Byun Jin-heung
Religion must take the lead in laying the foundation for an East Asian peace community. . . . It is religion that can make a paradigm shift from East Asian countries’ contention for regional supremacy to their defining national interest as cooperative competition, peaceful coexistence, and coprosperity.
Healing the Wounds of the Past, Building Peace for a Brighter Future
by Kathy R. Matsui
Peace education is crucial in establishing a peaceful community in East Asia, and . . . peace building cannot be achieved exclusively by governments and international organizations.
On the Sanctity of Life and the Right to Peace: Toward Collaboration among Religious Leaders
by Toshimasa Yamamoto
Humans . . . seem to spend all of their time in futile competition—if there is something that they want, they will scramble to get it by whatever means. And it is when they fail to get what they want that wars claiming the lives of others break out.
Founder’s Memoirs
The Second Vatican Council
by Nikkyo Niwano
Essay
A Votary of the Lotus Sutra Will Meet Ordeals: The Role of Suffering in Nichiren’s Thought (2)
by Jacqueline I. Stone
In addressing the question of why he and his followers had to endure harsh trials, Nichiren did not fi x on a single explanation but adopted multiple perspectives. On the one hand, his sufferings were necessary to prove the truth of the Lotus Sutra and to verify his own status as its votary. On the other hand, they were an act of expiation for past slanders of the Dharma.
This is the concluding part of an article begun in the previous issue, based on a paper presented at the International Lotus Sutra Seminar held May 27–June 1, 2013, near Tokyo by Rissho Koseikai on the theme “Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra, and human suffering: classical, modern, and contemporary approaches.”
