No.1６９ー１

It was a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to spend three days talking with young people from different countries in Nagano, where greenery was thick and the sun shone through white summer clouds. I was moved to watch those young people displaying their own personalities and seeking earnestly to determine what they could do. 　Even in this period of the IT Revolution, ultimate communication is based on people’s meeting with each other. While information, as is exemplified by news in TV, has one-way flow with many passive receivers, communication is, by its own definition, interactive. It creates a world where open minds echo with each other. And differences in cultures enrich both parties. 　Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the forerunner of global ecology of this century, observed “The eco-system is strong in areas where many species live. But the eco-system is weak where only limited species can be found as in the South Pole. The same rule applies to Culture.” 　Cousteau’s observation has a very important message for us, namely, that one culture needs a diversity of other cultures in order to survive. This diversity of cultures constitutes a treasure house for human beings and is the key for our existence. One culture becomes active and grows when it encounters with other cultures. In this sense, cultural identity is not simply a standing existence (Sein-Being). Rather it is a growing existence(Werden-Becoming). At the campfire on the second night 　If the time portends when the world can find no other cultures but a single one, it will probably portend the end of human beings. In this “International Year of Culture for Peace,” we must pay attention to this reality of culture and grasp firmly the significance of “Dialogue between Cultures,” which is the theme for the year 2001. To realize that we need other people to live is the very core of the culture for peace. 　The young people having 15 different cultural backgrounds gathered at Wada village in the clear air and laughed together. It was their shining faces that looked 　At the campfire on the second night　to me like the stars of hope for the　future of our globe. 　(As is reported on page 6, Mr. Hattori gave his comments　on the young people’s discussions on the last discussion day.) next page