Peace Pole Origins
From prehistoric times on, people have stood stones up on one end as a testament or memorial. Japan had a strong tradition of this. Vertical stones with text engraved in them is something that always has been common in Japan. So in 1955 in Japan when Masahisa Goi wanted to make public statements about peace, that was the tradition he followed. Since then Peace Poles have been planted on sites that include the tomb of Confucius in China, the pyramids of Giza, and the magnetic North Pole in Canada.
The peace pole at right is in Kamakura,
Japan. Click to enlarge
American historical context
In the United States there also is precedent for erecting a pole to make a statement, the "Liberty Poles" of the Post-Revolutionary War Period that were erected in large numbers to protest a new tax. This was people independently erecting posts to make a collective statement.
World History
The following information was submitted by David Crockett Williams, Jr., UN50th Global Peace Walk Coordinator and Global Peace Movement Organizer. I regard it as interesting research that needs some corroboration from an independent source or two.
An historical example of the idea of The Peace Pole can be
seen in the story of King Ashoka, a forgotten and mighty sovereign who was one
of the most influential and powerful ancient Emperors of India (269-232 BC,
capital at Patna). Ashoka had conquered the whole subcontinent through violent
and bloody warfare. His empire stretched from Orissa to the Kyber Pass and from
the Himalayas to beyond Madras. Upon introspection after the bloodshed and
horror of his earlier campaign in Orissa, Ashoka became open to and received The
Message of Peace from a Buddhist Monk. Thereafter, he renounced warfare,
embraced Peace, and he built Stone Peace Poles (columns & pillars) and other
peace monuments, many of which were carved and inscribed with The Message of
Peace, leading to over 500 years of no war, no crime, and no violence in the
whole area. He became a visionary who implemented moral reform on a world scale,
not by fostering sacrifice and suffering and persecution, but by fostering a
spiritual regeneration coming from within -- one spread by conviction, precept,
and example, an appeal to something deep within the human soul. From 1616 to
1834 British investigators of Indian culture like Thomas Coryat had attributed
Ashoka's pillars to Alexander. In 1834 Peace Pillars in three locations (Bihar,
Delhi, and Allahabad) were discovered to have identical inscriptions. When these
were deciphered, Ashoka's story became clearer to Western scholars who came to
regard him as "the greatest and noblest ruler India has known", and as "one of
the great kings of the world". Like Gandhi, Ashoka's message became one of
non-violence, reverence for life in all forms, and tolerance for people of other
religions. The result of Ashoka's conversion was an unwavering commitment to
these ethics.