Women, social change and realising political ideals - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 165

once they erent in

places like Okinawa, where most Soka Gakkai women worked as a matter of
course after marriage. While I have never seen mentioned in Ikeda

find a middle-income supporting husband. This was di

' s writings

anything to the e ect that women should become homemakers, the ' greatness

of women is clearly interpreted by the organisation and many women to

mean having time to do many Buddhist activities. Becoming a housewife may
mean

'

financial dependence, but it does not mean social isolation or lack of
social status within their own peer group. Because of their membership in
Soka Gakkai, it usually means increased social and political activism. How-
ever, more among the younger generation are clearly inspired by Ikeda

s
writings to question some of the internalised gender roles and cultural practices
that leave the life of men and women with such segregated roles.
The greatness of women and equality of the sexes clearly took prominence
as a theme in Soka Gakkai literature in the mid-1990s, driven by Ikeda

'

s
many writings and speeches on the issue. Quotes from Nichiren such as
'

'

ve
characters of Myoho-renge-kyo in the Latter Day of the Law, be they men or
women

There should be no discrimination among those who propagate the

(MW-1: 93) are frequently used by Ikeda to support his declaration
that the twenty-

'

(cf. Mori 2003). This
means an attempt to make empathy (or compassion) the central ethos of
human endeavours to facilitate the creation of the century of life (as opposed
to the century of war characterising the twentieth century and dominance of
men). Probably inspired by the UN decade of women and certainly in con-
junction with it, Ikeda continues to talk and write about a century of women.
As indicated, Ikeda may use the category

rst century is the ' century of women '

to epitomise Buddhist
practice. He is putting forward the category of women, the positive aspects of
many women

' women '

s socialisation of an empathetic way of living, as a model for
human development. Within the aspiration for the development of compas-
sion, tolerance and engagement with the community and society in a civically
contributing way, to foster social bonds of solidarity between people, women

'

s
lived experience in the family and the community is promulgated as the epi-
tome of Buddhist humanism. As Igeta and others suggest above, what is it,
then, that other people (men and women) and modern capitalist societies as a
whole can learn from this?

'

By extending and deepening the solidarity that grows from an empathetic
recognition of our shared humanity

- the universal desire to protect our-

selves and those we love from harm - I believe we will be able to make

the twenty- rst century a century of life.

(Ikeda, 31/07/2006)

The development of empathy is central to the Buddhism practised in Soka
Gakkai, following a similar moral framework proposed by relational psy-
chologists. 10 Ikeda

'

s constant messages about a humanistic way of living were
certainly visible in the way these young women and young men described