Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
This way of thinking he says he has learned from Soka Gakkai, which
underscores his motivation for supporting Komeito. He believed Komeito
politicians were like Soka Gakkai members trying to think in the same way.
While this projection some may dismiss as wishful as there will always be the
exception to prove otherwise, it reveals the kind of value system that young
people were learning in Soka Gakkai, and to which Komeito
'
s political
agenda and relative
political record only adds.
The political hope for a more humane society, however, was not devoid of
impasse. Tobi found himself having to deal with a complex situation of
wanting to both support and protest against certain decisions of Komeito.
While he presented a more united front to his friends outside Soka Gakkai,
he was quick to question his fellow members
'
clean
'
reasoning for their support for
Komeito, as seen above. He resented being stereotyped as supporting
Komeito simply because he was an SU student. He had several tasks: being
clear about what he did not agree with, while explaining why he disagreed to
his peers, and why despite disagreement over some issues he still supported
Komeito, which moreover, would be why he was suggesting to other people
that they might want to consider supporting Komeito as well. This played out
against the public perception of SU students as not politically engaged sup-
porters (and therefore non-thinking). Tobi wanted to engage his friends in
conversation to dispel that simplistic portrayal.
Some days after this conversation between Tobi and Toshi, Toshi elabo-
rated in an interview on what at
'
first had seemed a simple trust in Ikeda and a
politician he liked:
Well I do hear things directly about politics like at meetings (the special
study groups formed to study about politics), we hear about the policies
of Komeito, the politicians, and the bad things about the other parties
[laughs]. I do have an interest in politics, like I want to know what they are
doing, how it works, and also because a senior told me that one should
have an interest in politics. [Why do you think that is important?] Because
you must be able to evaluate what is going on, what direction your
country is taking. To not take an interest in politics is not good, I think.
(conversation with Toshi, 04/06/2004)
Toshi found politics interesting, but he was motivated also by the example of
individual politicians. Kanzaki, the then head of Komeito, had passed the bar
exam in one year and then went on to become a lawyer, which was impressive
to Toshi, who wanted to be a lawyer himself. He also elaborated on how he
respected Toyama Kiyohiko, a graduate of SU and one of the youngest leg-
islators in Komeito at the time. Toyama was generally well respected by SU
students and served as a role model for some of them
[b]ecause he went overseas to study which is kakkoii [
], and did his
PhD in Peace studies, and he is very young. And he is trying to
'
cool
'
nd a
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