On 9 September 2026, the Hasegawa Peacebuilding Study Group of the Kyoto Peacebuilding Center (KPC) held a study session at the Tokyo Gaien Campus of Kyoto University of the Arts. Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, Director of KPC, delivered a lecture entitled “Building a Nation through the Arts and a Culture of Peace: Sukehiro Hasegawa’s Reflections on Peace.”
Drawing on his experience as a United Nations official in Rwanda, Timor-Leste and elsewhere, Professor Hasegawa explored the relationship between Kyoto University of the Arts’ founding philosophy of “building a nation through the arts” and the “culture of peace” promoted by the United Nations. He emphasized the concept of “positive peace,” which goes beyond the absence of war to address structural and cultural violence, and the importance of building the foundations of peace in people’s minds through the arts.
The lecture also examined the causes of war and pathways to peace from multiple perspectives, drawing on Kant’s theory of perpetual peace, Prince Shōtoku’s philosophy of harmony (wa), theories of international politics, and the historical background of the two world wars. The session concluded with a lively discussion with the participants.