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according to tendencies to think and act; taking action based on mutuality in
social interaction and the greater good (seen here as being created through
canvassing for Komeito which promoted certain policies of that nature)
changed one
s circumstances.
Another person also shared her story about overtime and said how she just
wanted to take time off
'
work to support the election. However, while thinking
about doing so she had reminded herself of Ikeda-Sensei
s guidance that being
victorious meant not avoiding challenges. Thus, she persisted in trying to rise
to the demands of the election and work. At the end of the meeting, the
Headquarters leader, a woman in her early thirties, reminded everyone that
although of course getting people to vote for Komeito was important,
'
'
Making friends and deepening friendship is most important. So let
'
is continue
with this in mind until the last minute, one more week
'
. In the background, I
could hear
s comment as we walked from
the station sprang to mind. In answer to my queries as to the di
'
shouts
'
from a YMD meeting. Mari
'
erences
between the YWD and the YMD, as the way they always held separate meetings
seemed so pronounced, she had said,
although of course we have the same
goals and motives, the two divisions do things quite di
'
erently
'
. She con-
tinued,
The YMD shouts a lot, but the YWD are much purer and it is easier
for them to talk. That is because in Japan the world of men and women is so
di
'
erent from overseas (conversation with Mari, 03/11/2003).
This to some extent described the YMD meeting I had attended the pre-
vious week, but I do not know whether the
erent, quite di
'
'
'
shouting
meant
just words and
'
no action
, as she implied, or if it was simply that they somehow felt more
self-conscious and less at ease with more intimate conversations. On the other
hand, such loud and boisterous meetings contrasted with another YMD
meeting I attended some months later in one of the main Soka Gakkai Cul-
tural Centres in West Tokyo. Kamio, a Komeito secretary, had taken me to
this meeting. He had always been very helpful in his replies to my many
questions, and had taken me to the area where he lived and knew people
when I told him I was looking for other young Komeito supporters, in 2004.
The Young Men
s Division in a di
erent mood
'
As I entered a relatively small room in the West Tokyo Soka Gakkai Cultural
Centre, about 15 young men aged somewhere between 20 and 35 were sitting
on the carpeted
floor. They had obviously been expecting me as I was greeted
by applause when I entered, but soon continued the meeting that had already
begun. For the next half an hour people talked about their recent experiences.
The theme seemed to be about
. Someone said
that he was determined to improve the quality of his conversations by using
Ikeda-sensei as his example. Most people seem to agree that to deepen their
friendships was important. Someone said he realised he did not have any deep
conversations with people and felt he had no real friends; he resolved to
change that somehow. Their self-re
'
the importance of dialogue
'
ective manner revealed a view in which
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