- Philosophy

In the 70 years since its founding, the International House of Japan has invited world-class intellectuals who symbolized the times to share their thoughts and ideas through lectures and symposiums with counterparts in Japan. In the early years of its founding, I-House invited great thinkers such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who led the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, George Kennan, who led the U.S. Cold War policy, Arthur J. Toynbee, well known for writing A Study of History, and Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India. More recently, we have invited philosophers, thinkers, and intellectuals who have developed new theories of civilization and are leading the times, such as Gayatri Spivak, who advocates the importance of a new humanity against intellectual colonialism, Antonio Negri, one of the world's leading scholars on Spinoza, and American political scientist Joseph Nye, who pioneered the theory of soft power. We will continue this tradition and commit to playing a pivotal role in actively introducing leaders, ideas, and initiatives that will illuminate the uncertain future of this world.