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Mitsuo Yamazaki
Oomoto School, Japan
On August 15, Japan commemorated the 58th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. In recent years, the atmosphere around Japan has been growing increasingly tense. Looking back over the hellish and tragic history of half a century earlier, we are single-mindedly praying that such a catastrophe will never be repeated. History has shown us that no application of military force can remove the underlying causes of conflict. In 1925, Oomoto Co-Founder Onisaburo Deguchi warned: "To achieve peace and happiness for all humankind, the leading problem is above all harmony of people's minds. We must offer teachings to enable unification of our brothers and sisters all over the world, and at the same time undertake reorganization of matters religious and secular. Unification of the world by force and authority means the strongest overwhelm the rest. This leads to endless conflict and undermines any hope for the coming of eternal peace. Therefore, unification can only be approached through spiritual, religious and ethical processes." Before the Second World War, Oomoto was on two occasions the target of suppression by Japanese national authorities, dealing a devastating blow to the religious organization. The Second Omoto Incident of 1935, especially, was a case of intense religious suppression. Over the next 10 years to the end of World War II, Oomoto and Jinrui Aizenkai were forced to cease all activities in Japan and abroad. Immediately after the war, on September 8, 1945, the Grand Council acquitted Oomoto of any wrongdoing in the Second Oomoto Incident. Disregarding legal advice, Onisaburo Deguchi waived all rights to claim for damages from the government. Being absolved of guilt was itself a step towards realizing Onisaburo's dream of creating true world peace through human welfare and military disarmament. In December of 1945, at the close of the year that saw the full resolution of the Second Oomoto Incident, a newspaper reporter visited Onisaburo Deguchi while he was convalescing. He asked for his impressions of Japan's defeat, his views on religious freedom, and on other issues. The Co-Founder's replies during that conversation are especially relevant now, in the 21st century: "I was imprisoned from before the start of the [Sino-Japanese War] until the end of World War II. The headquarters in Ayabe and all 4,000 temples in Japan were completely destroyed. Even so, because the believers maintained the faith, Oomoto as a religion has already been restored. . . . I am simply asking for the unified peace of all the universe. I had already foretold many times what Japan would be going through today, and the response was repression. . . . Japan has been completely disarmed, and this is part of the esteemed mission of pioneers of global peace. True global peace can only be achieved after the entire world has been disarmed. We are now approaching such an era." This ideal, expressed by Onisaburo Deguchi, did not emerge after the end of the war. In writings from 20 years earlier, dated July 1923, the Co-Founder showed the path to achievement of permanent peace: "The Advent of the Messiah, the Second Coming of Christ, the Descent of Miroku Bosatsu � although the names differ, I believe the meaning is the same. While achieving this kind of world is in the realm of godly works, those who are willing to work in service of the divine must first present themselves. Oomoto, as a willing servant of God, must first remove both tangible and intangible barriers. Of these, the greatest tangible impediments are preparation for war with other countries (armaments for internal security are a different matter), and the enclosure of national territory. The greatest intangible barrier is hostility between people of different nations, ethnic groups, and also between religious organizations. To remove the global tangible barriers, we must first remove the intangible barriers." After the war, building on the experience of atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, religious people in Japan turned towards development of a world federation that transcends national borders and racial differences. They were determined that no such catastrophe should ever strike another country or peoples, and convinced that interreligious cooperation is the supreme issue in achievement of a war-free, permanent peace. During the international peace forums sponsored each year in different regions of Europe by the St. Egidio Community, during the forum held last year in the Vatican Synod Hall, on the day before the Universal Prayer Service for World Peace hosted by the Pope, and during the Prayer Offering and World Religious Forum, which was held in Japan in November last year and sponsored by Oomoto and Jinrui Aizenkai, I have repeatedly focused on several issues. In an era when we fear the "clash of civilizations," I have stressed the urgency of interreligious reconciliation, cooperation and organization, and continued to call for establishment of a religious United Nations (a world religious federation). Today, we are seeing the complex intertwining of egoism of peoples and nations, extreme fanaticism, political and economic turmoil, discrimination and oppression, and terrorism. These combine with the resurgence of nuclear threats in the Middle East and Asia to produce an air of deep agitation. In this critical time, instead of resorting to short-term military campaigns, we must convert the foundation of future society from one of "Rule by power," to "Rule by law." Building the framework of a global order in the shape of a world federation that aspires to "peaceful coexistence," maintains the highest esteem for the autonomy of each country and encourages mutual recognition of cultural diversity, is perhaps the wisdom required for humankind to survive in the global age. Religious people in Japan, the only country to experience nuclear bombing, are making good use of the spirit of the Constitution of Japan for the benefit of future generations. We wish to join hands with the world's religions and contribute to development of a human community which will radiate with the dignity of life and open up a new century of "Peace" and "Environment."
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