In order to appeal to as many constituencies as possible, the
conference featured a creatively organized program offering something for all
interests. Following opening remarks by conference co-organizer Yoshioka
Tatsuya from the longstanding peace advocacy/action NGO Peace Boat, the gathering at the Chiba venue hosted a lineup of speeches that
were interspersed with dynamic musical performances from a number of performers
supporting the spirit of the conference.
The first keynote speaker was Mairead Corrigan Maguire, a 1976 Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate for her work to end the conflict in Northern Ireland. She
called on the Japanese government to recognize that the “War on Terror” was a
failed strategy, and that the attempt to pursue it by dismantling Article 9
would amount to nothing less than contempt for the memory of past war victims
(both Japanese and otherwise), as well as potentially threaten the very
survival of humanity and the environment alike by unleashing the nuclear
horrors that Japan should have already learned from. Citing the case of her own
country, she reiterated that engaging in dialogue with one’s perceived enemies
was the only possible road to peace—and that this must occur at the
level of ordinary citizens in addition to national governments.
Cora Weiss, UN Representative of the International Peace Bureau and
President of the Hague Appeal for Peace, delivered the second keynote speech,
where she gave an impassioned plea for the realization that wars leave behind a
path of destruction affecting generations to come. She also made the point that
the real enemies we must now face up to are those of poverty, disease and
ignorance—all ills that the use of weaponry will only inflame rather than
defeat.
Later in the program came a creatively designed discussion titled
“Iraq, the U.S., and Japan” that featured a lineup of several panelists. When
viewed together as a collective whole, the individual experience of each
speaker provided a startlingly integrated portrait of the culture of militarism
that now frames the issue of Japan’s Constitutional Article 9. To briefly
summarize:
l The first speaker was Ann
Wright, who retired from the U.S. military as a
colonel and then worked as a diplomat for the U.S. State Department before
resigning in opposition to the war in Iraq. She offered a scathing criticism of
U.S. policy, particularly as regards the “War on Terror,” and exhorted Japan
not to head down the same dangerous road by following U.S. demands that it
remilitarize. She urged Japan to instead utilize Article 9 as an opportunity to
reject the military-industrial complex in favor of a new style of economics,
which could also set a powerful example for other nations to follow.
l This presentation was followed by Aidan Delgado,
a former soldier from the U.S. military who resigned as a conscientious
objector after being assigned to Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. “As a Buddhist, I
had no choice but to quit the army once I realized that war was not what I was
taught it was while growing up,” he recalled. “In reality, it’s nothing more
than legalized murder, oppression and destruction that only serves to increase
the level of suffering in the world.”
l Iraqi humanitarian aid worker (and former soldier) Kasim Turki then explained his experience as a fighter who came to realize that nonviolence
was the only way forward—even after seeing his city completely destroyed,
experiencing direct mistreatment from U.S. soldiers, and also losing his
brother due in part to their callous inaction following an accident. “I
realized that revenge would only bring more destruction, and so I decided to
break the cycle and become a peacemaker,” he explained.
l Japanese novelist Amamiya Karin spoke next, pointing out the obvious link between militarism and
poverty, and noting the dangerous trend whereby rising numbers of jobless and
homeless youth in Japan are increasingly being targeted by recruitment agencies
to join the Japanese Self Defense Forces. She implored the Japanese government
to redirect its budget away from militarization and toward social services in
order to avoid the vicious spiral existing now in the U.S., whereby poor youth are
drawn into the military due to having few or no other options.
l Finally, aid worker Takato Nahoko, who was taken hostage in Iraq in 2004,
credited the existence of Article 9 for playing a large part in saving her
life. “The reason why our captors finally released us was due to our peaceful
activities and lack of association with any sort of military policy, she
explained. “I am a living example of someone who is standing here before you
today because of the principles of Article 9, and so I urge Japan to uphold
this clause—as well as other nations to implement something similar. Doing so
just may save someone else’s life in the future.”
After more energetic musical performances topped off the day’s
proceedings, the second day of the conference featured a full program
addressing a multitude of peace-related issues represented by Article 9. For
example, six symposium sessions were offered on the topics of world conflict and
nonviolence, realizing the spirit of Article 9 in Asia, women’s peace-building
power, linking peace and the environment, crisis and the future of Article 9,
and Article 9 and the nuclear age. There were also workshops held on the topics
of disarmament and peace education, panel discussions on the topics of
demilitarization and globalization, and special forums led by the Global
Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict and the International Lawyers
Panel.
In addition, the conference featured hundreds of workshops, films,
artistic performances, and much more, including sessions covering topics such
as Article 9 and the media, war and oppression, using Article 9 to build a
nuclear-free world, Article 9 and U.S. military bases in Okinawa, banning depleted
uranium (DU) weapons, and the practical use of Article 9 in conflict regions.
Additional offerings included a liveperformance/ discussion workshop on the connections between peace and music; a concert
by musician and Chernobyl survivor Nataliya Gudziy; a talk by 94 year-old
former soldier Ryutaro Honda, who will travel to Europe next year to share his
experience and urge protection for Article 9; and a report on the Article 9
peace walk, whereby an international group of
participants spent 72 days walking from Hiroshima to the Chiba conference venue
in order to raise awareness about the importance of Article 9.
The conference venue itself was a virtual festival of activity, with
hundreds of peace organizations of all sizes offering literature and selling
goods at booths set up throughout the facility. These included several groups
calling for the U.S. military to relinquish its hold upon land and property and
return them to local people, such as the Azabu Heliport in central Tokyo, and wildlife-rich
areas in Okinawa such as the Henoko
seaport and Takae village in the forested region of Yanbaru.
Some of the more creative peace campaigners in attendance included the
Kikanshi Media Center, which was selling packages of low-calorie, 8-grain blend
“Article 9 noodles” that promised to cultivate “peaceful hearts” amongst its consumers;
Fukuoka-based university lecturer Yoshi Kuzume, who regularly travels abroad
handing out T-shirts with the text of Article 9 in both Japanese and English in
order to help spread its message around the world; and Isao Hashimoto, an
artist who aimed to draw attention to the reality of the nuclear age with his striking piece featuring a succession of blinking
lights on a world map
that indicate the history of nuclear testing around the globe.
The conference wrapped up with a press conference whereby several
official documents were released, including a final
conference declaration and statements to be submitted to the upcoming G8 Summit
and NPT (nuclear nonproliferation treaty) preparatory committee meetings. In essence,
the message of the conference was simple and yet powerfully straightforward:
utilize Article 9 as a practical model to be implemented by all governments in
order to ensure that the doctrine of “peace through force” shall no longer be
utilized as a tool of the nation-state.
In addition to supporting Article 9, many attendees were motivated
by other various peace-related causes. Women’s shelter caseworker Akiko
Sugiyama, who came to the conference with her boyfriend, community developer Naoki Kimura, carried around a backpack from which was
conspicuously draped a handmade T-shirt inscribed with the message ‘Free
Tibet.’ “I have been concerned about the situation in Tibet since volunteering
at a Tibetan freedom concert several years ago, and so after the recent
violence, I really felt that I had to try and do something,” Sugiyama
explained. “I carry this shirt with me everywhere I go, and people are always
coming up to me to talk about the situation in Tibet, which I find really
heartening. It’s only a small action, but I’m hopeful that it will connect with
something larger and help make a difference.”
Shuji Goto, a computer-analyst from the city of Kawasaki near Tokyo,
felt compelled to come to the conference after considering the real-life
implications of war and militarism. “When Japan conducted a ballistic missile interceptor test last December, there was all sorts of hype in the media about how amazing and
wonderful it was,” he recalled. “But after doing some
simple calculations based upon figures given by the UN Refugee Agency, I
figured out that with the one-trillion yen that’s estimated to be spent on the
entire defense shield project, meals could be provided to 82 million refugees
for a full year. It makes me angry that the Japanese government is
spending its time trying to get rid of Article 9 and pouring money into
fighting the North Koreans, when we could be helping to feed them instead.”
--Kimberly Hughes