[26th July] The 12th IPC Seminar: "THE BISHOP'S 'FINE TACT'" (Speaker: Prof. Hirokazu Miyazaki, Northwestern University)

The 12th International Peace and Co-existence Seminar

Topic: THE BISHOP'S "FINE TACT": The Ambiguity, Ambivalence, and Relationality of Catholic Peacebuilding from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Flores, Indonesia during the Asia-Pacific War

Speaker: Professor Hirokazu Miyazaki (Northwestern University)

Date and Time: Tuesday, 26th July, 2022 / 10:30am - 12pm (JST)

Venue: Room 201 (IDEC building) & Online (Zoom)

Content:

In the ongoing debate about the role of religion in peacebuilding, particular attention has been paid to religion's attitude toward violence as a locus of its peacebuilding potential. In this lecture, Prof. Miyazaki turns to the case of the Catholic Church's ambiguous and ambivalent relationship to Japan's war in the Asia-Pacific region. The focus of his analysis is an exceptionally well-documented case of four Japanese Catholic priests on a Japanese Imperial Navy-sponsored 'religious propaganda' mission to Flores, Indonesia during the Japanese occupation. The four priests, including two leaders of the Catholic Church in Japan at the time – Bishop Yamaguchi Aijiro of Nagasaki and Apostolic Administrator Ogihara Akira of Hiroshima – worked closely with European missionaries left on the island to protect the church's interests against Japanese military aggression. This unusual case of war-time cooperation between civilians from enemy nations in the context of the otherwise brutal war in Asia offers a rare glimpse into Japanese Catholic Church leaders' engagement with Japan's war efforts. Prof. Miyazaki develops tact as a self-consciously limited and yet distinctively relational mode of peacebuilding that capitalizes on layers of ambiguity and ambivalence.

Language: English

To join online, scan the QR code or access with the meeting ID and passcode on the flyer. Open to all, no need to pre-register.

Contact

For further details, please contact: Prof. Koki Seki (seki[at]hiroshima-u.ac.jp)

International Peace and Co-existence Program

This cross-disciplinary program aims to consolidate students’ basic knowledge and to enhance their critical thinking skills in the academic disciplines of Peace Studies, Cultural Anthropology, International Relations, Law, Ethics, and Area Studies under the common key concept of “Peace and Co-existence.”

Students can choose a subject area and a specific topic to conduct independent research, with guidance from the academic staff who specialize in a variety of research fields, including nuclear damage, armed conflict, and the interrelations between development and culture. Other research interests include social inequalities stemming from issues of poverty, gender, ethnicity and religion as well as war and ethics, and security and nuclear weapons.


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