The National Diet of Japan
The House of Representatives
Parliamentary Committee of the Diet for World Federation
Chairperson
ETO Seishiro
Parliamentary Committee of the Diet for World Federation
Secretary-General
NAKAGAWA Masaharu
Japan Advisory Commission on Global Governance
Chair
HASEGAWA Sukehiro
The Parliamentary Committee of the National Diet of Japan for
World Federation
At the culmination of World War II, a momentous event unfolded in the form of the World Federalist Movement (WFM). Spearheaded by the likes of Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, and other esteemed global intellectuals, the movement proposed the creation of a world government to the then U.S. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, during the establishment of the United Nations. This pivotal initiative laid the foundation for a new era of global governance.
In Japan, Yukio Ozaki, known as the father of constitutional government, submitted a resolution to the National Diet of Japan to establish a world federation. In 1948, members from the public and private sectors, including Toyohiko KAGAWA, the father of unions; Hideki Yukawa, Japan’s first Nobel Prize-winning physicist; Naruhiko HIGASHIKUNI, the first prime minister from the Imperial Family of Japan; and Yasaburo SHIMONAKA, president of publishing company Heibonsha, gathered and established the “World Federation Building League (current World Federalist Movement of Japan).” The following year, in 1949, Komakichi MATSUOKA, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, was appointed Chairman, and Kotaro TANAKA, then a member of the House of Councillors, former Dean of the Faculty of Law at Tokyo University, former Minister of Education, and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Judge of the International Court of Justice, was appointed Vice Chairman. Prime Minister Shigeru YOSHIDA, former Prime Minister Naruhiko HIGASHIKUNI, and Yukio OZAKI, then President of the World Federation Building League, established the Japanese Parliamentary Committee of the National Diet of Japan for World Federation (See the List of Current Members of the Japanese Parliamentary Committee for World Federation below).
In the National Diet of Japan, Seishiro ETO, a current member of the House of Representatives and former Minister of State, is the Chairman of the Japanese Parliamentary Committee for the World Federation. The Parliamentary Committee established 2019 the Japan Advisory Commission on Global Governance and appointed as its Chair Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, Former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste. The Committee and the Commission make policy proposals to the Prime Minister and other ministers to strengthen the role and functions of the United Nations and its affiliated organizations.
In addition, local governments in various areas of Japan and the religious community endorsed the declaration, and various related organizations were established (see below). Subsequently, the National Diet of Japan passed the “World Federation Resolution” in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. Under the direction of then Foreign Minister Taro ASO, the Japanese Government set up a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Foreign Policy Bureau, in charge of the project. In the private sector, following the passing of former Prime Minister of Japan and former Chairman of World Federalist Movement of Japan, Toshiki KAIFU, Chairman of the World Federalist Movement of Japan, Mitsuo OHASHI, a leading figure in the business community and Chairman of the People’s Political Association, was appointed in 2023 the position of Chairman of the World Federalist Movement of Japan.
List of Affiliated Organizations in Japan
・Japanese Parliamentary Committee for World Federation Chairman: Seishiro ETO (a member of the House of Representatives and former Minister of State)
・World Federalist Movement of Japan / Japan Council for the Promotion of World Federation
Chairman: Mitsuo OHASHI
・Japan Advisory Commission on Global Governance
Chairman: Sukehiro Hasegawa (Former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor)
・World Federalist Movement Youth Forum
Chairman: Masakuni TANIMOTO
・Council of Declared Municipality for World Federation of Japan (Composed of 21 prefectures and 60 city/wards/towns/villages)
・Japanese Religious Committee for World Federation
Chairman: Tsunekiyo TANAKA (President of Jinja Honcho, Association of Shinto Shrines)
・World Federation Culture and Education Promotion Council
Chairman: Yoshiko HIGASHIKUNI
The Parliamentary Committee of the National Diet of Japan for World Federalism, which is made up of bipartisan Diet members, was held on May 15, 2019. Mr. ETO Seishiro, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committees, gave the opening address and explained the proceedings of the general meeting, and Ms. INOGUCHI Kuniko, Executive Director, served as moderator. Representatives from each party included Mr. IBUKi Fumiaki, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. FUKUYAMA Tetsuro, Secretary General of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Mr. TAMAKI Yuichiro, President of the Kokuminto (the Democratic Party of the People), Mr. INOUE Yoshihisa, Vice President of Komeito, Mr. KASAI Ryo, Policy Chairman of the Japanese Communist Party, and Ms. FUKUSHIMA Mizuho of the Social Democratic Party expressed their views. Mr. SHIBAYAMA Masahiko, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, commented. They then unanimously established the Japan Advisory Commission on Global Governance and appointed Mr. HASEGAWA Sukehiro, former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, as its chairperson. (15/05/2019)
World Federalist Movement (WFM)
WFM is the international organization established at the end of World War II, Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, and other world intellectuals proposed the establishment of a world government to the U.S. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the time of the establishment of the United Nations.
After the Cold War and the development of the United Nations, the following methodologies were considered:
(1) strengthen the functions of the United Nations to create a world federation,
(2) develop regional federations such as the EU and the AU to create a world federation
(3) create a world federation separate from the United Nations.
Currently, we are focusing on method 1) as a realistic approach, aiming to achieve this by strengthening the authority of the United Nations with the cooperation of member countries. WFM has branches worldwide, including its headquarters in New York and its European headquarters in The Hague. WFM makes various policy proposals to national governments, parliaments, and international organizations as a special advisory body to the United Nations. It also works with parliamentarians, national governments, legal professionals, local governments, religions, unions, companies, media, universities, think tanks, and other public and private actors, who are transcending party and sectarian lines, to promote global governance and develop transnational systems to address environmental issues, peace, disease, poverty, and other transnational challenges.
WFM’s achievements in strengthening the functions of the United Nations include the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by a resolution of the UN General Assembly, which united 2,500 public and private organizations around the world, and the introduction of the International Solidarity Levies (in a dozen countries including France) for use by international organizations. In addition, we have been active and successful in campaigns for establishing a UN Parliamentary Assembly, disarmament, and other activities. Mr. Axworthy, the former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who advocated the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) at the United Nations General Assembly, served as Chairman of the International Secretariat.
June 2024