Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Japan and has existed throughout its history in a highly politicised public
sphere.
Under Ikeda Daisaku (1928), who succeeded Toda in 1960, Soka Gakkai
increased its social participation as a grassroots movement that promoted
peace, artistic or cultural exchanges and an educational philosophy based on
Makiguchi
'
s theory of value.
'
Peace
'
entails both a grassroots promotion of a
'
activities such as the movement
for nuclear disarmament expounded in the form of seminars, exhibitions or
awareness-raising campaigns. Such activities, sometimes undertaken in coop-
eration with UN specialist agencies as a non-governmental organisation (NGO),
have seen the establishment of a number of a
culture of peace
'
, and more concrete
'
peace
'
liate organisations. The
Soka School system that begins in kindergarten and runs through to uni-
versity, the Institute of Oriental Philosophy, the Fuji Art Museum, the Min-
on Music Association, the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning and Dialogue
(formerly, the Boston Research Centre for the 21st Century), the Toda Insti-
tute for Global Peace and Policy Research have become formidable institu-
tions in their own right. While the focus of this topic is on Soka Gakkai
members
'
support
for Komeito,
there are clearly many aspects to their
activities.
9
Soka Gakkai
s views are readily available through its many publications,
which active members and some none members read on a regular basis. For
instance, its daily newspaper, the Seiky
-
Shinbun, has a circulation of more
than
'
five million (one of the largest in Japan). Members learn about Nichiren
Buddhism from such material. They also participate in regular, monthly dis-
cussion and study meetings, which form important parts of how Nichiren
Buddhism is practised in Soka Gakkai. Ikeda
is views are instrumental in
shaping the reading of Nichiren in Soka Gakkai, but his ideas go back to the
preceding presidents, Makiguchi and Toda. To outline Soka Gakkai
'
s devel-
opment (see also Tamura 2000; and for a more comprehensive outline see
Metraux 1994), I explore further how the life and teachings of Nichiren
are interpreted in Soka Gakkai. Second, I outline the early development of
the organisation, which created a particular action-oriented ethos where the
practice of Buddhism involved connecting personal inner transformation with
taking action in the social world with the aim of spreading the philosophy of
Nichiren. This action-oriented form for Buddhist practice entails a number of
controversial aspects, the primary one being the establishment of and support
for a political party.
From a sociological point of view, Soka Gakkai
'
s particular reading of
Nichiren Buddhism might be seen as accommodating changing circumstances
in contemporary Japanese society, and through such accommodation becom-
ing the driving force behind a committed and socially active membership. Yet,
more concretely,
'
s
understanding of his or her own actions. That is, what is stressed as a non-
severable link between a person
its success lies in the emphasis put on each individual
'
s inner motivation and the subsequent action
taken. While this is something di
'
cult
to assess,
the worldview of
the
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