Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Some top politicians were seen as leftovers from the previous fascist regime,
carrying on within the new Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). There was thus
a critical stance towards the LDP, the party that was to dominate politics in
the post-war era. White
s study of Soka Gakkai found an organisation that
expressed anti-establishment ideas, but where members were not anti-social.
Instead, they found new meaning in being active socially in the place where
they lived. There was a double-edged sword where a new form for social
activism was viewed, on the one hand, with apprehension because of its pre-
sumed negative impact on democracy (
'
'
lower social elements
'
combined with
a zealous religious belief). On the other hand,
belief mean[t] new volition
in work, new devotion to family, a new pattern and order in life, and a new sense
of responsibility toward society
'…
(White 1970: 272). Its insistent proselytising
during the 1950s under Toda, which contributed signi
'
cantly to its funda-
mentalist image, changed somewhat in the 1960s. White (1970) notes the
moderating e
s leadership.
The rise of Soka Gakkai and its involvement with politics in the 1950s and
the establishment of Komeito in the 1960s, while remaining a relatively small
political party, meant that it was perceived as a potential political threat.
Komeito in the mid-1960s was to go on to tackle government corruption,
particularly within the Tokyo metropolitan government. It was also seen as a
threat to nationalist groups. Even today in the streets of Shinanomachi in
central Tokyo, the home to the Soka Gakkai headquarters and numerous
other Soka Gakkai buildings, it is not uncommon to come across right-wing
groups blasting out reactionary messages against Soka Gakkai/Ikeda or
Komeito from loudspeakers on top of a van. Such messages of Ikeda being
unpatriotic and dangerous to Japan eerily illuminate political tensions that
must have been more conspicuous during the 1960s and 1970s when Ikeda
made an e
ect of Ikeda
'
ort to establish diplomatic ties with China. While highly criticised
at the time, it is clear that beginning in its pre-war days, the Soka Gakkai
presidents have been against a right-wing, nationalist view.
How do we assess what has become a classic work in the sociology of reli-
gion in Japan, where Nishiyama (1975) writes that Soka Gakkai became
estranged from the rest of society because their main religious and political
objective was to establish a national high sanctuary? He outlines
ve phases
where various shifts are visible in the way Soka Gakkai used and then
refrained from using the term kokuritsu kaidan, something perceived as highly
nationalistic. In the
from the time Toda emerged from prison in
1945 until he became president of Soka Gakkai in 1951
rst phase
-
Nishiyama shows
that Toda did not speak much about a national high sanctuary. At the same
time, Nichiren Sh
-
sh
-
was speaking about a national high sanctuary like a
future dream that would be ful
-
lled when the emperor built the priests a high
sanctuary. This clearly made Toda angry (Nishiyama 1975: 245). From his
inauguration until the preparation for entering politics in 1954, Toda uses the
term minshuritsu kaidan (the people
s high sanctuary) rather than national
high sanctuary. Then from 1954, Toda began to use the term kokuritsu
'
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