Buddhism

Interview with Philosopher Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka

TJ: How do you define Buddhism?

TASAKA: Buddhism is a kind of “cosmology” that can accept various value systems – not only religions but philosophies that exist around the world. Zen Buddhism, especially, is a “philosophy of contradiction” that can accept all the contradictions in our life, because contradiction is an essence of life. An important thing in Buddhism is the ability to keep the contradictions in mind, to keep gazing at them and think about the meaning of the contradictions.

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What Will Happen in Capitalist Societies in the Future?

Dialogue on the Future of Modern Civilization

Human Society is Developing Dialectically

TJ: What will happen in capitalist societies in the future?
TASAKA: This question is an extremely important one today at a moment when global capitalism is being confronted by some extremely serious obstacles. But because the question is historical in its dimensions, simply relying on a “technology to predict the future” will not provide the answers. What we need, instead, is to understand a “philosophy to foresee the future.” In other words, we need to understand a philosophy that talks about the laws that underlie change, development and evolution in our world.

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Fukushima: A Global Issue

Nuclear expert, philosopher, strategist, social entrepreneur and former advisor to Prime Minister Kan, Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka shares his views on Japan’s nuclear crisis.

Why should Japan stop relying so heavily on nuclear energy? The answer is simple. There is a backend problem in the nuclear fuel cycle that doesn’t allow for the final disposal of nuclear waste in the country.

The Science Council of Japan, the highest authority of academia in the country, submitted an official recommendation to the Japanese government on September 11, 2012 arguing that the geologic disposal of nuclear waste should not be carried out in Japan because current science cannot prove its long-term safety.

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INTERVIEW SERIES WITH PRIME MINISTER KAN’S SPECIAL ADVISOR & NUCLEAR EXPERT DR. HIROSHI TASAKA

Nuclear expert, philosopher, strategist, social entrepreneur and former advisor to Prime Minister Kan, Dr Hiroshi Tasaka shares his views on Japan.

TJ: What role have you played in serving as an Advisor to Prime Ministers?
Tasaka: On March 29, 2011, shortly after the March 11 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident, I was appointed by the Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan as his Special Advisor to serve him as an expert of nuclear engineering in an effort to cope with the accident. My role as a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister shifted from devising a way to stop the accident to proposing ways to reform nuclear regulations and nuclear industries, as well as investigating ways to change national energy policy.
I resigned from the position on September 2, 2011, when the cabinet changed. I had served as an advisor for five months and five days during the most critical period after the accident.

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