Music & Peacebuilding
Music & Peacebuilding
Courage, Wisdom, and Compassion with Olivier Urbain: Ikeda’s Story
This is a two-episode series exploring the legacy of Daisaku Ikeda and the practice of dialogue through interconnectedness and a human revolution of courage, wisdom, and compassion. In this episode, we explore the legacy and history of Johan Galtung, Ikeda, Toda, Makiguchi, and Oliver Urbain’s groundbreaking work to explore music and peacebuilding. Exploring histories and models of violence, we come to a clearer, interdependent understanding of how direct, structural, and cultural violence are enacted within modern contexts.
The Music & Peacebuilding Podcast is hosted by Kevin Shorner-Johnson at Elizabethtown College. Join our professional development network at www.musicpeacebuilding.com - thinking deeply we reclaim space for connection and care.
the interconnectedness of all human beings and all living beings doesn't really have a center. The centers are everywhere. Everybody is the center of the entire interconnectedness of the world. Which means your history, your village, your town, your music, your background is the most important thing that we need to preserve and honor.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:You are listening to season three of the music and peacebuilding podcast, a professional development network at music peacebuilding.com Exploring intersections of peacebuilding, sacredness, community, creativity and imagination through research and story. This is a two episode series exploring dialogue and a Human Revolution of courage, wisdom and compassion. In this first episode, we explore the legacy of Galtung Ikeda and Olivia Urbain's groundbreaking work and music and peacebuilding. Born in 1961 and Tournay, Belgium, Dr. Olivier Urbain obtained academic degrees in Belgium, the US and the UK, with PhDs and literature at USC and Peace Studies at the University of Bradford Olivier Urbain, is on the board of directors of the International Peace Research Association Foundation, and is the founder and former convener of the arts and Peace Commission of the International Peace Research Association. He currently serves as the Director of the Min on Research Institute, and as adjunct lecturer at Soka University Japan, at the Graduate School of International Peace Studies. And as a visiting research professor at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. As a founding scholar who I have long admired Urbain focuses on preventive peacebuilding and violence prevention at all levels. Today, he explores the potential of musicking to enhance conviviality and social skills in Japanese high schools and other institutions and settings. I first asked Dr. Urbain about his role at the Min on Research Institute, and concert association.
Unknown:So I'm the Director of a Music Research Institute, called the Min on Music Research Institute in Japan. And it's pretty unique because it doesn't come from a university, it comes from a concert association. So Min on was established in 1963. As a concert Association, they organize lots of concerts invite people from all over the world to perform in Japan. They also have a music museum with fantastic collections of pianos and many other instruments. And they also organize a conductors' competition, and many of those conductors then start a new career worldwide, from from there. And after 50 years of organizing concerts with the goal and intent of getting people to know each other better to get along better, you know, across nationalities, across continents. They thought, what what else can we do after 50 years? And why not establish a research institute? So that was in 2014. And so Min on means the music of the people. And it's kind of a flexible translation, but it could be music of the people, by the people and for the people.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:Yeah, I want to journey back to this moment when you start to become a peace studies scholar. So as I read your book, I understand that you were teaching modern languages, Soka, and then you had this moment that seems to be inspired by your wife, where you encountered Galtung and always changed. So if we talk about transformation, I want to know about this moment of your transformation. And what led you to be a peace studies scholar.
Unknown:Oh, yes, that's a wonderful question. So I moved to Japan in 1991, and started to teach French English modern languages. And then in 1996, a guest was invited to teach on campus for two months, because Soka University has, always has lots of guests coming to campus. And that time, it was Johan Galtung, one of one of the founders of peace studies. And I was very busy establishing programs for students. So I didn't really have time to pay attention. But my my wife was asked was invited to translate for him for two months. So here is, you know, one of the founders of peace studies sharing very, very complicated theories in English. And then in front of you, you have 1300 students, Japanese students, who don't understand what he's saying. And my wife was in charge of translating everything. So so I thought the least I can do is to at least attend the very first class to support her. So I did attend, and after half an hour, I was hooked. I found it absolutely fascinating. The very first lesson if you want, I attended Galtung started to make little graphs on the board. And showing that when people are in conflict, there are five different types of outcomes. And one can win the other one can lose that one outcome, but both can decide to lose. That's, for example, war, nobody wins in a war at the end. It's a lose lose outcome. You can compromise. Like, you know, you get half what you want, the others get half what they want. So far, so good. And then he showed what he calls the Transcend point, the Transcend point is almost impossible to explain. But it's a point where you get everything you wanted from, you know, trying to solve the conflict, but the other parties to both win, it's like a complete win win. Now, of course, it sounds impossible. But it's an ideal point, kind of a lighthouse, where you believe it's going to happen, that it's possible for me to get everything in for you to get everything. And of course, the only way to get there is really extensive and intense dialogues to reframe what you want to understand what your wants, etc, etc. I'm not going to reproduce the whole half hour. But I thought, Oh, we can actually think about peace and peacebuilding in a scientific way. And use graphs and math, which, you know, as a White, Western European, that was really the only thing I could do at the time. So I went to see him in his office, and basically I became a private student for about 10 years.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:Galtung transformed peace studies with new conceptual models of violence and peace, Gatung's conflict, triangle modeled the origins and interconnected types of violence as direct violence, structural violence, and cultural violence. In his book, Urbain cites a profound dialogue between Ikeda and Galtung, where he gently asked I'll tone about connections between personal history and the origins of peace
work. Ikeda:I have heard that seeing your beloved father, Dr. August Galtung, a former Deputy Mayor of Oslo and a physician taken away to a concentration camp by the Nazis when you were only 13 years old, motivated you to devote yourself to humanitarianism and peace. Galtung: my motivations were twofold. On the private level, I was influenced by the violent madness that afflicted Norway in general, and our own small family in particular, during World War Two. I wanted to find out how all that horror might have been avoided, how the karma of all Europe might have been improved and in honest personal terms, how we could have kept father at home with us so 10 years with like the founder of peace studies, I haven't had an opportunity to talk with somebody who's known Galtung so you know, as I came into contact with Galtung I, you know, I came into contact with the triangle. And I think the aha moment for me there was I think the way in which he spoke about the the importance of peace culture setting up but yeah, so what, what rubbed off on you from all that time you spent with Galtung? Like what are some of the ways in which that time has affected you the deepest?
Olivier Urbain:Yes, you mentioned triangles. I love triangles anyway, and Galtung has lots of them that helped me and I think has helped lots of people to flesh out what's going on, for example, the DSC triangle the the direct structural cultural violence. So, for Galtung, and I think for most people today, we understand that conflicts, disagreement, that's not the problem. Because life is complicated. And we cannot all want the same thing. At the same time, in perfect harmony, that's not realistic. So we have conflict in our lives. But how do we handle them? With or without violence? That's that's the real question. So the problem of peace building is violence, not conflict. And so that was already a revelation at the time. But in addition, when we see people getting killed, people getting bombed, people are getting tortured, that we want to stop that, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. It's called direct violence, we can see it, we can feel it, it's horrible. We want to stop it. But there is a huge iceberg underneath. And Galtung calls it structural violence, which is one of his greatest discoveries, if you want, I mean, it's always been there. So it's not a discovery, but he put a label on it. And that's all the injustice that people have to endure, because of bad laws, bad traditions, structures that are inadequate, invisible power structures that make it that you know, a woman works 20 years exactly like a man, but her salary is going to be 1/3. And she's not going to be promoted. Where does that come from? You know, it's called structural violence. And then there is another iceberg underneath that one. And it's called, that's the cultural violence, cultural violence is, it happens in our heads. And that's where we think, well, it's totally okay for some people to have to go to jail for any little thing, because I think they are inferior, that's in our head. And that's, that's cultural violence. It's, you know, racism, sexism, all kinds of discrimination is in our heads. But the problem is that once we get together and organize our communities and our societies, those prejudices transform into rules and habits and traditions, that's structural violence, and that pushes people to suffer so much that at some point, we have to stand up and revolt and rebel and use violence, direct violence. So it's like a whole package. And I'm not very good that like combat sports. So direct violence, I can't do much about it. I haven't studied law or economics very well. So structural violence, I'd be pretty useless. But cultural violence, I felt that had something to say. I thought, Oh, wow. If one fight we can pick, you know, in the huge battle for a better world. Maybe I can pick that one I can look into - Where does cultural violence come from? Prejudice, privilege, all those things? And where is it in me first? And how can we change that for the better? And of course, music was a natural fit for that.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:In his chapter for music and conflict transformation, Galtung writes, quote, maybe there also has to be an element of disharmony in the harmony, of contradiction in the transformation of the conflict. Peace is life. Something needs to be left unresolved. Good art is like good peace. Always challenging. We turn to a piece titled far away. This song is a result of a collaboration between the NGO Beyond Skin in Northern Ireland and MOMRI in Japan. The two co producers are Darren Ferguson of Beyond Skin and Olivier Urbain of Min on. The song was created by students of two schools, Glen High in Ireland and the C&S music school in Japan. Music by Yuta Hihara Lyrics by students of Glen High at that time, and music performed by students of the C&S Music School [music] And before we get to Ikeda, I want to just hear about the story of the music and Conflict Transformation book. You know, I think I would want to note just how important that book has been one of the very first books to look at this, that music has a role to play here. And I remember very on in my own formation, like picking up the book off one of the shelves in the library and opening it and saying this looks interesting. And just the way in which I, it's the chapter on empathy that first hooked me, but the way in which that book changed me. And so I want to know the story of this book, like, how did where did you get this, this idea about? Maybe we should write this book on music and conflict transformation?
Olivier Urbain:Oh, wow, thank you. Well, thank you for picking that book, among so many others. On the shelf that day. So in 96, I decided to learn directly from Galtung. And after three years, we met in in Kyoto, actually, the four of us, his wife, my wife, and the two of us, because our both our wives are Japanese. So of course, you know, a lot of great communication there. And Galtung was establishing his own online university called Transcend Peace University. And so we had a very long brunch. And in the conversation, he mentioned that he would love me to teach something. But something original, something nobody had done before, because colleagues of Galtung had already established a peace economics or peace sociology, or even peace mathematics. You know, peace ecology. So, immediately, I thought, well, I've never heard of, you know, a course on music and peace. And he said, That's it. That's what you have to do. So from there, I started to prepare the course, started to have some ideas on what would work. And little by little, I started to write papers, published articles, attend conferences, discuss with people, my very first paper was called Jazz and social justice. If you remember there's this fabulous series by Ken Burns, about jazz, so I watched it very slowly, and took notes. And there is so much material in there about music and peacebuilding, about how, how jazz can came from the blues and how the blues was born at all and everything it means for the people who, you know, express themselves through the Blues of the very beginning. And what jazz has become today. This whole adventure was my very first attempt to link music and peacebuilding. So then in 2004, an Institute actually, I was not aware of I knew I knew the name Toda, but I didn't know there was a Toda Peace Institute. And a friend of mine told me, Well, you know, you're into music and peacebuilding, why not apply for a, you know, funding for a project because the Toda Peace Institute is organizing something about arts and peace. So I applied, it was accepted. And I had this fabulous opportunity thanks to the Toda Peace Institute of creating a team of about 10 people. And we all went to the conference in Madrid in 2005. And so we were able to discuss and share for a few days in Madrid. And each one decided to write a very special chapter. And so the book after a lot of work, teamwork was published in in 2008. So as you mentioned, one of the writers was Felicity Laurence, who wrote on empathy. Really fantastic chapter. And then you have Cynthia Cohen very well known also in the field of art and peace. She is very careful about saying that music is universal, everybody feels the same way with the same music. Well, maybe not at all. Maybe we have to be very careful about that. You have Galtung himself wrote his first chapter ever on music. You have Rick Palieri, who is a banjo player and singer, a disciple of Pete Seeger, who went to meet Pete and have a original interview of Pete for the book. So that's in his chapter. So, I didn't know but it was the very first academic book on the topic. And right after that music and conflict, just cutting the transformation part of music and conflict was published by ethnomusicologist a really excellent book and then from there, you have like, literally hundreds of research projects and now we have entire books, entire associations on music and peacebuilding.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:In Felicity Laurence's profound chapter on empathy, she notes that within Eurocentric languages, the word empathy has a relatively young history, introduced in 1873 is Einfulung. This German word meant something different from sympathy, and was a word to describe the feeling into that often accompanied experiences with art. Laurence draws upon Edith Stein's writings to caution that empathy can easily and falsely become a moment when we lose our sense of self, to the arousal of a group. The Holocaust into which Stein perished is just such a moment when the arousal of hatred within one group caused unthinkable acts within others. All right, well, let's lean into the story of three humans that you talk about and that you've given so much of your thought and life to in working in peace education, peace advocacy. So Makiguchi, Toda and Ikeda. First in the spirit of dialogue, I wanted to note to you like how beautifully I thought that you wrote about the way in which each one informed and change the next like that in and of itself is like a history of dialogue about how each one is changing. I wondered if we could start with Makiguchi and his groundbreaking philosophies of education. I see that here's someone who built notions of free school lunches. Here's someone who believed in the latent potential within children and children's ability to be advocates for peace. So can you start with the story of how Makiguchi builds models of education as an act of building peace.
Olivier Urbain:So, Makiguchi was was born in the 19th century. And by the time he was in his 40s, he was a well established teacher and educator, not only through his actions in the classroom,
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:Makiguchi demonstrated his care for the inner potential of children in many ways including a system of free lunches. Makiguchi prepared and delivered lunches to students.
Olivier Urbain:But he was forced to change schools all the time, because the authorities in Japan, really didn't like that at all. They wanted to create a strong Japan that could resist the, you know, invasions of the West. So Japan had to be ready not to be colonized. And you need discipline and all those things. So Makiguchi, inspired by the type of teachings, but that, for example, John Dewey, would, you know, share the time, he thought, well, education is useless if you don't really treasure the person in front of you, and really believe in the potential and give them the skills to develop their potential. That's what education is all about. So, he always got in trouble with authorities for doing that, but nobody could ever change his mind. So then, when he was around 49 This young man came from Hokkaido, a young, 20 year old young man who also had experience teaching and Toda coming from Hokkaido came to the big city, Tokyo, and he knew he needed a mentor an established teacher and theorist, pedagogist who could help him and he was able to meet Makiguchi and became his disciple. So then then this dynamic of being together, Makiguchi and toda then accelerated the emergence of this type of education, which is called value creating education. In Japanese, it's Soka means, you know, value creating, and so it's about it The fact that if you believe in that type of education, you believe that people, each individual has the potential to become totally happy, fulfilled, have wonderful relationships contribute to the world and of course contribute to a better world and contribute to peace. They don't need, not a transfer from you. You don't have to throw any logic.. knowledge at them, but what you need to do as a teacher is to bring out their latent potential and provide them with skills.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:Olivier Urbain spoke of value creation as a kind of constructive framing of what we experience in Victor Frankl's 1964. Book Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl explores how our imaginations of future and purpose construct our well being in the here and now. Frankl's thoughts and writings were formed during his time as a concentration camp survivor. Urbain reads from a quote by Frankl
Olivier Urbain:saying yes to life, in spite of everything presupposes that life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. And this, in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life's negative aspects into something positive, or constructive. In other words, what matters is to make the best of any given situation. So in other words, what matters is to make the best of any given situation, for me that that's the major part of value creating education.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:Urbain shared a recent story from his classroom as a Ukrainian student made meaning of her studies and place in the wake of geopolitical violence.
Olivier Urbain:And then the girl from Ukraine raised her hand and she said, This is how I survive with everything that's happening in my country, to my family, to my friends, and you know, but I'm here in Japan, I'm alive, I can I can study. But how can I not be totally out of it? And you know, how can I live? Well, because I've decided that what matters is to make the best of any given situation. And based on that she's able to study to move forward and, and to imagine a future that one day in the future, she'll be able to do something for her country, for other countries, for people in general for world peace. But you can imagine the kind of tremendous courage and hope it takes from from one young person going through that. So all that, for me, is value creation.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:I think what I get from that is that there can be such a feeling of overwhelmed from the bigness of problems. And I think that there's both in this approach, there is a, there's a beauty in the smallness and the power of just one single person. That's something that I heard time and time again, from your book on Ikeda, about the value, the difference that one person can make. As 20th century Japan made ready for war, it laid frameworks of cultural and structural violence. The military government enacted the 1925 piece preservation law to end processes of dissent, as it mobilized for war. In 1943. This law was used to arrest and imprison Toda and Makiguchi for their refusal to conform to religious requirements. On January 8 1945, Toda was informed that Makiguchi had passed away some two months prior in a separate prison cell. Toda was engaged in his own solitary struggle of survival, and turned to the embrace of awakenings and revelations from the Lotus Sutra, Urbain writes, quote, Toda seem to be free of fear for the rest of his life. This first revelation gave him tremendous courage to overcome all obstacles. It also made him aware of how precious life is, and of the importance of the dignity of each individual. It confirmed his attitude and conviction as an educator, that each human being is precious and worthy of respect. Urbain speaks of Toda's awakening, to a sense of interconnectedness.
Olivier Urbain:And to make it simple in my own interpretation, is that each human being can have many different missions and functions and roles and contributions, but one of them can be to wake up to the fact that we are all parts of the web of life. We all have life within. And we have a mission to share that with others, and let them know that they also are part of the web of life and they have tremendous courage, wisdom and compassion inside of them, in a way it sounds like value creation from India from, you know, around 2000 years ago, he was already there, right? It was, of course, in other teachings. So then the two very strong awakenings, revelations that Toda had was that the most important is life itself, the fact that we are alive that we can breathe, and from there everything flows, and the fact that we each have a mission to make life better for others, not to charity, but by awakening them to the fact that their life is precious.
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:After Toda was released from prison, he seemed to move with a"clarity of purpose" as he invested in the realization of Soka Gakkai. And on August 14 1947, Toda met quote, "a frail young man of 19, suffering from tuberculosis," by the name of Daisaku Ikeda, Urbain rewinds, the story to introduce Daisaku Ikeda,
Olivier Urbain:Ikeda was born in 1928. So Japan was already on the way to full scale war, they had already attacked and colonized, what is now Okinawa and Taiwan and Korea, and they were building their own little empire and growing empire. So Ikeda was born in the middle of that in 1928. And it was really not a good time to live. He had tuberculosis, but not many means to be taken care of properly. So he was suffering a lot from tuberculosis, he was he was very weak, but still at age 14, had to work in a factory in a Arms Factory, because basically, every kid had to do that in Japan. And then he saw that his brothers were sent to war, he had four elder brothers, and they were all sent to war, one after another. And especially his elder brother, was was really close to him, his name was Kiichi. And then something happened that really changed Ikeda forever, that in July 1941, Kiichi was allowed to come home and stay home for a few months. And he was changed. And he was horrified. And at some point, he said very clearly and with with rage, that what the Japanese, the atrocities the Japanese are committing in China, are absolutely horrible and unbearable. So it was a big shock. Because, you know, the family thought, well, we're sending our sons to serve the country for to liberate Asia, from the evil Westerners. But the reality is completely different. So then that brother had to go back to war in 1942. And then no news from him. And then the war is over. And in 1945, and then throughout 1946, the other brothers come back, brother number 1-2-3. Still no Kiichi. And then it's finally in 1947 that the news game that Kiichi was killed, he had been killed in 1945 in Burma, which is now Myanmar. So Ikeda saw his mother breaking down becoming very old very quickly and his father too. So this whole experience of having to work at an early age, having to do military drills all the time, being lied to by the entire country, realizing everything was a lie, was was a tremendous shock for the entire nation including Ikeda. So then we are now in 1961. Ikeda has adopted the philosophy of value creation, through through a form of Buddhism, but from Makiguchi and Toda, and he visits Asia and he goes to India. You know where Buddhism started, and then he stops by Burma, Myanmar. And definitely honors the memory of Kiichi, his elder brother, and then on the plane from Myanmar to Thailand. He had this very clear idea, like, I don't want anybody's elder brother to be killed like this anymore. You know, we really have to do something that we there's so much music and art and creativity in the world. Why don't we use that energy to make sure this kind of senseless killings and massacres never happen again. So when he landed in Thailand, it was it was, Min on was built in his mind. He was already there. And he shared with friends that he met there though, you know, what we really need to create to establish some kind of organization, some kind of institution that promotes friendship, understanding cultural exchanges, through music, and about two years later, that became Min-on
Kevin Shorner-Johnson:the concert master of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Shinozaki Fuminori known as Maro notes,"music is different, it is something you feel it spreads among individuals. Music is about connecting people. I think this is the factor that can lead to world peace. This is the mission of musicians. This really could be the mission of music. We turn to a performance of Maro playing Mahler's adagietto from Symphony Number Five as an elegy to the loss of war, and those affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and those who have passed due to COVID 19. This recording is from the fourth episode of the share music day series produced by the Min-on Research Institute in 2022. The video is freely available on YouTube and provided with generous permission by the Min-on Music Research Institute.[music] May we find revolutions within legacies of dialogue and mentors within the blooms of the lotus flower, finding the beauty and the potential within, holding disharmony within harmony as a creative energy to transform, to grow, bringing out the best versions of our community. Olivier Urbain's books, Daisaku Ikeda's Philosophy of Peace and Music and Conflict Transformation are published by IB Taurus press, an imprint of Bloomsbury publishing. The website of the Min-on concert association can be found at WWW dot min hyphen on.org. This is the music and peacebuilding podcast hosted by Kevin Shorner-Johnson at Elizabethtown College. Stay tuned for our next episode, as we continue our journey to explore revolutionary practices of dialogue.[music]