20221021 In Memoriam: Prof. Mushakoji Kinhide

Commemorating Mushakoji Kinhide-san

Organizers: Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA) and Global University for Sustainability (Global U)
Date: Oct 21, 2022 (Friday)
Time: 3pm Tokyo/Seoul time, 2pm Manila/HK time, 1pm Bangkok time, 11.30am New Delhi time, 6am UTC
Language: English

Mushakoji Kinhide-san was born in Brussels, Belgium, on 21 October 1929, and passed away on 23 May 2022, at the age of 92. Mushakoji-san was vice-rector of the United Nations University in 1976-1989. He had also been a professor at Gakushuin University and Sophia University. He was Director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center at Osaka University of Economics and Law, President of the Osaka International Peace Center (Peace Osaka), and President of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (Hurights Osaka). He was also the president of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) and a member of the Radical Ecological Democracy (RED) network.

During the time of his vice-rectorship at the United Nations University, he worked closely with ARENA on various projects, which consolidated the research network of ARENA. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was the Council Chair. He had a very good sense of humor, and a very gentle and kind demeanor, and precisely because of his compassion for the underprivileged and his indignation about injustice and inequality, he was a staunch critic of US imperialism, and he was always proposing innovative ideas and projects. He was not only an eminent scholar but also an active member in peace movements, such as staunchly opposing the revision of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.

Mushakoji-san was a founding member of the Global U and was very supportive of its work. In 2017, he personally attended the 4th South South Forum on Sustainability (SSFS) in Hong Kong, and alongside Muto Ichiyo-san from Japan, Professor Samuel Lee and Professor Lee Jung Ok from South Korea, and Professor Dai Jinhua from China, they dialogued on “Practical Steps and Alliance Building”. On 10 July 2020, he participated in the inaugural session of the 7th SSFS, entitled “Is it the end of globalization?”, and dialogued with Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram from Malaysia, Prof Huang Ping from China, and other scholars.

A 90-minute-long interview with Mushakoji-san was done in Malaysia on his life and thoughts. His videos and papers are available on the Global University website: https://our-global-u.org/oguorg/en/mushakoji-kinhide/. We will remember Mushakoji-san and his untiring efforts for peace, pacifism, and humanitarianism.

In the commemorative session, friends and colleagues such as Francis Loh, Samuel Lee, Nimalka Fernando, Lee Jung Ok, Muto Ichiyo, Mami Sambert, Manoranjan Mohanty, Aoi Horiuchi, Surichai Wungaeo, Eduardo C Tadem, George Aseniero, and Lau Kin Chi, speak of memories of their personal interactions with Mushakoji-san or give longer expositions of his intellectual and movement contributions.

This video is produced by the Global University for Sustainability, 2022.

Видео 20221021 In Memoriam: Prof. Mushakoji Kinhide канала Global University for Sustainability