I am honoured to have been appointed Director of the Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ritsumeikan University. I feel a great sense of responsibility as I carry forward the work of the museum’s former directors and the many others who have supported it first opened.
The Kyoto Museum for World Peace opened in 1992 as a peace museum established by a university. Since its opening, our mission has remained unchanged: to confront honestly the history of war, including the Asia-Pacific War, from the perspectives of both those who inflicted harm and those who it. By looking carefully at the past, we hope to connect our understanding of history to the creation of peace in the future. In 2023, we completed the second major renovation of the museum and began a new chapter with expanded and more in-depth exhibitions.
Peace museums established by universities are still rare around the world, and this is one of the distinctive features of our museum. Another important feature is the deep involvement of our students. Through conversations with visitors and involvement in organising and managing archival materials and artefacts, young people can become active contributors to peace. Our museum is not simply a place that records the past. It is also a place where young people can actively create peace for the future. I hope to ensure that our museum continues to be such a place.
As I write this message, armed conflicts that threaten people’s lives and dignity continue in many parts of the world, including Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran and its surrounding region. As someone deeply committed to peace, I sincerely hope to see progress towards ending these conflicts during my term as director.
These conflicts also pose serious challenges to the “rule of law”, which the international community has worked to strengthen over many years. Yet the term itself is often used without a clear definition. It is also sometimes discussed without sufficient consideration of how its meaning differs between domestic societies and the international community.
Unlike individual states, the international community has neither a central legislature nor a central authority with coercive powers to enforce international laws. In such a world, we must continue to ask what the rule of law truly means in the international community. We must also uphold the principle that international disputes should be settled by peaceful means in accordance with international law, rather than through the use of force. I believe this is more important today than ever.
My area of expertise is international law, especially international environmental law. From this perspective, peace today cannot be understood simply as the absence of war.
Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and more severe against the backdrop of climate change. They threaten people’s lives and safety across national borders. The effects are often most severe for people already in vulnerable situations.
To address these challenges, cooperation and action that go beyond national borders are essential. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations can be seen as a roadmap for building a peaceful and sustainable world, and their importance continues to grow. They address a wide range of issues, from ending poverty and reducing inequalities to tackling climate change and protecting oceans and ecosystems.
However, significant challenges remain in achieving these goals. Achieving them requires the participation of each and every one of us. The environment, human rights, development, and peace must not be considered separately. They are integrated and indivisible and should be understood as part of a single whole.
At our museum, visitors can also explore the many challenges facing society today and reflect on how they related to peace.
Learn from history, look carefully at the present, and imagine a peaceful future.
The Kyoto Museum for World Peace is a place for encounters and dialogue that can help us do just that. I sincerely hope that people of all ages, from Japan and around the world, will visit the museum and reflect more deeply, from their own perspectives, on how we can create peace.
We look forward to offering you a warm welcome at the museum.
Professor, College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University
Born in 1968. Studied at the School of Law and Graduate School of Law, Nagoya University. After serving as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mie University, he joined Ritsumeikan University in 2007. He served as Dean of the College of International Relations from 2022 to 2025.
His areas of expertise are international law, particularly international environmental law. His research focuses on current issues in international law related to climate change and biodiversity, as well as the role of contemporary international law in achieving sustainable development. He also serves as a member of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on International Law for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
His publications include The Problem of Climate Change and International Law (Toshindo, 2024). He is also a co-editor of Basic Documents of International Law (Toshindo, published annually) and Textbook: Law and the International Society (Horitsu Bunka Sha, 2024), among others.