ABSTRACT
Innumerable books and articles have been published in Japan on issues related to the military, security and peace following the defeat of 1945. Although it is difficult to select from among these any one piece of writing as the most influential in shaping Japanese peace thought during the cold war era, any discussion of the topic could not justifiably ignore the work of the Peace Issues Discussion Group (Heiwa Mondai Danwakai, hereafter Danwakai or Group). Three statements that the Group issued between 1949 and 1950 proved particularly influential: ‘Statement on war and peace by Japanese scientists’, ‘Statement on the peace treaty problem by the Peace Issues Discussion Group’, and ‘On peace, for the third time’. 1 These statements represent an innovative attempt to come to grips with the problem of security in the nuclear era. All three contain prescient insights into cold war militarization processes. This chapter identifies the specific characteristics of the peace thought and values expressed in these statements. In the process, we hope to shed light on the significance of the Group’s thought in trying to create a demilitarized Japanese identity in the emerging cold war situation.
