ABSTRACT

This chapter traces historically this discourse of peace and harmony in the Japanese intellectual tradition. It refers to Japanese thinkers by Prince Shotoku, Ito Jinsai and Yokoi Shonan, which is conventional in Japanese intellectual history, was a unique Confucian thinker and a public philosopher in the early Tokugawa era of Japan. Prince Shotoku's philosophy of wa is based on his observation that the spirit of peace and harmony begets and nurtures a mutually conciliatory human attitude and concord in the discussion of all matters. Implicit in this search was his criticism of the main trends of intellectualism and inaction observable in the Japanese studies of the Song tradition of the Zhu Xi School. In view of present-day East Asia, which still remains one of the most tension filled and turbulent regions in the world, the potential that their thought and legacies suggest for conflict resolution, reconciliation and peace building are of prime significance.