Preface
Don’t stop the momentum of the society for change
Hiroshi Taniyama
President, JVC
2 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear acci- dent. Through this experience of an unprecedented catastrophe, a movement was generated naturally, a movement to look back at how our society and economy has been formed, and trying to bring back the connections between people and people, as well as people and communities. There was a momentum to create a society for change.
In 2013, although that momentum is still continuing, aftershocks continued, nuclear plants were brought back online, exportation of nuclear plants continued, participation in the TPP negotiation, as well as a movement for the amendment of the constitution.
When JVC began to support Indochina refugees in 1980, the world was in the middle of the Cold War and wars of proxy. As the Cold War ended at the beginning of 1990 we thought peace would come. Instead in every field we took action, we saw large gaps between the rich and poor born from partial economic growth, and intensified conflicts over oil and natural resources. In Cambodia, Laos and countries in Africa, people who lost their farmland and forests kept on increasing as the liberalization of foreign investment proceeded. Furthermore, the anti-terrorism wars and Iraq war after 9.11 have not only taken peoples lives and livelihoods but has also caused chaos within the society that came after. Still, there are people who try to overcome those difficulties with their own hands. Cambodian farmers challenging to gain self-sustained agriculture so their families can live without selling their farmland. Afghans who are fighting to protect their children’s health in lands that only have a fragile medical system. As JVC stood by them, we decided our guiding principles, which are to establish a community circular society that will not be tossed about in the global economy, and to create peace from the grass roots level without using any military force.
This spring, staff from around the world gathered in Japan to discuss how farming villages can face the surging waves of global economy, including a visit to Ogawa-cho, Saitama prefecture. There has never been a more necessary time than now, where we have to learn and collaborate with other coun- tries and areas for realizing the society that we aim for. As we stare fixedly at the flow of time we must never lose sight of the undercurrent hope, and we must not stop the momentum of changing the society by utilizing what we have learnt from the past. For continuing to challenge the agendas in this difficult age, we are in the strongest need of your support and participation.
