Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Sachiko, who now wanted to become an environmental lawyer, had come
to Soka University at the encouragement of her father. During an interview in
the library, she said:
My father practises [Buddhism] strongly, not my mother.
My father wanted me to come here to learn about the greatness of the founder
[Ikeda]
'
first-year law student it was only since beginning university
that she had become involved with Soka Gakkai activities. She was partici-
pating in the UNRC, which she
'
. For this
'
enjoyed greatly
'
. Although only just turned
20, she was aware of di
erent levels of support for Komeito.
I don
t like the idea that just because I am an SU student, then I auto-
matically vote for Komeito. I am not in that group. I think there are
di
'
erent groups of supporters. One group really supports no matter what,
and will try to get others to support. Then another group really considers
why they support, considers the merits of the policies, etc., but they de
nitely
support. And then a third group will consider the policies
rst, and then
some support and some don
t. And then a fourth group is not interested
in politics at all and will not support.
(conversation with Sachiko, 02/07/2004)
'
This seemed quite an accurate observation, one that re
ected wider patterns
in the intensity of support for Komeito. Koichi, a second-year law student
who was also participating in the UNRC activities had, unlike Sachiko, who had
only become interested in environmental issues and in politics since coming to
SU, been actively involved with Soka Gakkai activities for some years, and
had attended Soka Junior and Senior High Schools. Both his parents were
active members in Soka Gakkai. He elaborated on this
'
fourth
'
group by
saying that,
t like to
support any party, and do not want to get involved with politics, saying that
all politicians are corrupt and not worth getting involved with. They are
politically apathetic (seijimukanshin)
'
They don
'
t only not like to support Komeito; they don
'
(conversation with Koichi, 01/07/2004).
Koichi did not much like this attitude of non-involvement. He strongly
supported and believed in Komeito politicians, and regarded Komeito politi-
cians as having high ethical standards and a value system that corresponded
to his own ideals of creating human value. He echoed the Komeito slogans
about how politicians are there to serve the people, that such people should
have high personal integrity and be advocating humanistic policies. Koichi
believed that most of the Komeito politicians possessed such attributes,
despite
'
finding it sometimes di
cult to see the merits of Komeito policies
over others:
For example, the Japanese Communist Party [JCP] portray themselves as
having done things they in fact have not done, or they are against raising
financial support for parents until Primary 3. So I know why I wouldn
'
t
vote for the JCP. With Minshut -
cult to know why I
choose Komeito over them, if I simply look at their policies. Then the
I
find it more di
 
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