From Conflict and Confrontation to Conciliation and Cooperation: The Peacebuilding Vision of Komeito (Summary)
May 12 , 2025
Backdrop and Purpose
The global community today faces a convoluted web of challenges, from geopolitical conflicts and the threat of nuclear weapons to accelerating advances in AI, among others. The security environment in which Japan finds itself is thus increasingly contentious and the rules-based international order undermined. For more than 70 years, Japan has built up a foundation of trust; Komeito holds that our nation should draw on that trust to take the lead in engaging in peace diplomacy for the promotion of human dignity and the rule of international law. The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversaries of the end of World War II, the two atomic bombings and the establishment of the United Nations. On the eve of these milestones, Komeito, true to the tenets of human security, therefore issues its its Peacebuilding Vision, an initiative that spans the next ten years pursuing peace through dialogue, conciliation and cooperation.
Komeito’s Peace Diplomacy
Ever since its founding in 1964, Komeito has engaged in diplomatic efforts to advance peace worldwide. It served as a key agent in the normalization of relations between Japan and China as well as in the building of close, cordial ties with the rest of Asia. Today, we help drive the Japanese government’s humanitarian assistance to refugees in Gaza and Ukraine. We are also the only political party from Japan to participate as an observer in the recent Meeting of State-Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons held in New York, doing so out of our longstanding resolve to free the world of nuclear arms. Compelled into action to enhance human security, we are committed to upholding human dignity and rule of international law in the pursuit of a truly sustainable society.
Establishing a Northeast Asia Security Dialogue and Cooperation Organization
Comprised of 17 proposals, Komeito’s Peacebuilding Vision focuses on the three following policy areas: a framework to enhance through dialogue regionwide security in Northeast Asia; expediting the abolition of nuclear weapons; and implementing regulatory oversight of AI advances. Given the realities of the region’s challenging security environment, the regional security framework is central to our Vision, a permanently established organization where constituent member-states, especially disputing parties, meet on a routine basis to build mutual confidence in way of preemptively preventing open clashes. This organization, we believe, will be vital in securing peace and stability for all of Northeast Asia.
Components of the Peacebuilding Vision
I. Building the Foundations for Peace
Establish a Northeast Asia Security Dialogue and Cooperation Organization, abolish nuclear weapons, regulate AI, enact UN reforms, ensure maritime order
II. Actionable Initiatives
Engage in the recovery and reconstruction of war-torn and natural disaster areas, combat climate change, promote SDGs, judicial diplomacy and human rights, recover the remains of the war dead, position Okinawa as a citadel for peace
III. Securing Softpower Outcomes
Advance the needs of education, culture and the arts, sports, women and youth, promote regional community outreach initiatives
