4 - Post-War Peace Movements: The Historical Background of National and International Religious Cooperation

Summary

Abstract

With the progress of globalization, value strategies once accepted in Japan are no longer accepted. This is a problem for religious groups, but it can also become an opportunity for them to develop new value strategies in the context of globalization. This chapter will examine some characteristics of peace movements associated with Japanese religious organizations in the post-war period, focusing on the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) as the main example. These peace movements, sponsored by religious organizations and backed by the tradition of national religious cooperation, have developed alongside a strong nationalism. The chapter traces the ways in which these movements have benefited from the influence of globalization and, through this, have developed into international movements.

Keywords: WCRP, peace movements, Nikkyō Niwano, Risshō Kōseikai, religious cooperation, Japan Religion Federation

Post-war peace movements and religious groups

Religious groups expand their management and power in relation to the value consciousness of the general public. In the era when the borders of the Japanese nation state were firmly established, the strategies pursued by religious groups developed in relation to national values: either by going along with values promoted by the nation while evading state control, or by pursuing an independent course, and proclaiming their own religious values distinct from national values. This is an issue of the value strategies of religious groups. With the progress of globalization, however, value strategies once accepted in Japan are no longer accepted. This is a problem for religious groups, but it can also become an opportunity for them to develop new value strategies in the context of globalization. In the process of developing these value strategies, religious groups have addressed issues that are also now faced by secular organizations in the course of globalization. If we consider that many aspects of the management strategies of religious groups in Japan have developed ahead of similar developments in business enterprises, it is perhaps to be expected that the same can be observed with the value strategies of religious groups.

In this chapter, I will examine some characteristics of the peace movements associated with Japanese religious groups after WWII, focusing primarily on the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) as an example.