Editing Soka Gakkai (section)

==History==
===Foundation===
{{Main|Tsunesaburō Makiguchi}}
[[File:Tsunesaburo Makiguchi.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Tsunesaburō Makiguchi]], the first President of the Sōka Gakkai]]
In 1928, educators Tsunesaburō Makiguchi and [[Jōsei Toda]] both converted to Nichiren Buddhism. The Soka Gakkai officially traces its foundation to November 1930, when Makiguchi and Toda published the first volume of Makiguchi's magnum opus on educational reform, ''Sōka Kyōikugaku Taikei'' (創価教育学体系, ''The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy'').<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Clarke|editor-first=Peter|title=Encyclopedia of new religious movements|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-45383-7|page=594|edition= 1. publ.}}</ref><ref name=valueCreator>{{cite book|last=Bethel|first=Dayle M.|title=Makiguchi the value creator: revolutionary Japanese educator and founder of Soka Gakkai|year=1994|publisher=Weatherhill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8348-0318-3|edition= 1st paperback}}</ref>{{rp|49}} The first general meeting of the organization, then under the name ''Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai'' ({{lang|ja|創価教育学会}}, "Value Creating Educational Society"), took place in 1937.<ref>Levi McLaughlin, Handbook of Contemporary Japanese Religions, Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion, {{ISBN|978 90 04 23435 2}}, page 282</ref>
   
The membership eventually came to change from teachers interested in educational reform to people from all walks of life, drawn by the religious elements of Makiguchi's beliefs in [[Nichiren Buddhism]].<ref name=sgi-america>{{cite book|last=Hammond|first=Phillip E.|title=Soka Gakkai in America: accommodation and conversion|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-19-829389-7|edition= Reprinted.|author2=Machacek, David W. }}</ref>{{rp|14}} The group had a focus on proselytization growing from an attendance of 60 people at its first meeting to about 300 at its next meeting in 1940.<ref>Kisala, pp. 141–142</ref>

===Repression during the war===
{{See also|Political dissidence in the Empire of Japan#Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai resistance}}

In 1942, a monthly magazine published by Makiguchi called ''Kachi Sōzō'' ({{lang|ja|価値創造}}, "Creating values") was shut down by the government, after only nine issues. Makiguchi, Toda, and 19 other leaders of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai were arrested on July 6, 1943, on charges of breaking the Peace Preservation Law and [[lèse-majesté]]: for "denying the Emperor's divinity" and "slandering" the [[Ise Grand Shrine]]. The details of Makiguchi's indictment and subsequent interrogation were covered in July, August, and October 1943 classified monthly bulletins of the Special Higher Police.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tmakiguchi.org/religiousreformer/asreligiousreformer/detainmentinterrogation.html|title=Detainment and... -Tsunesaburo Makiguchi Website|website=www.tmakiguchi.org}}</ref>

With its leadership decimated, the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai disbanded.<ref name=ramseyer>Robert L. Ramseyer. "The Soka Gakkai". "The neighbor complained to the police, who arrested Jinno and a director of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai named Arimura." In Beardsley, Richard K., editor, Studies in Japanese culture I. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1965. p. 156</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Laderman|editor-first=Gary|editor1-link=Gary Laderman|editor2-last=León|editor2-first=Luis|title=Religion and American cultures|year=2003|publisher=ABC- CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.]|isbn=978-1-57607-238-7|page=61}}</ref> During interrogation, Makiguchi had insisted that "The emperor is an ordinary man ... the emperor makes mistakes like anyone else".<ref name=encounteringDharma>{{cite book|last=Seager|first=Richard Hughes|title=Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism|year=2006|publisher=Univ. of California Press|location=Berkeley [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-520-24577-8|url=https://archive.org/details/encounteringdhar0000seag|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|40–41}} The treatment in prison was harsh, and within a year, all but Makiguchi, Toda, and one other director had recanted and been released.<ref name=ramseyer /> On November 18, 1944, Makiguchi died of malnutrition in prison, at the age of 73.

[[File:Josei Toda.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Jōsei Toda]], the second President of the Sōka Gakkai]]

[[Jōsei Toda]] was released from prison on July 3, 1945, after serving two years of imprisonment on the charges of [[lèse majesté]]. He immediately set out to rebuild the organization that had been repressed and dismantled by the government during the war.<ref name=Murata>{{cite book|last1=Murata|first1=Kiyoaki|title=Japan's New Buddhism: An Objective Account of Soka Gakkai|url=https://archive.org/details/japansnewbuddhis00mura|url-access=registration|date=1969|publisher=Walker/Weatherhill|location=New York & Tokyo|isbn=978-0-8348-0040-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/japansnewbuddhis00mura/page/89 89]|quote=Toda 'was burning with a desire for vengeance--not against the militarist government of Japan but against an invisible enemy who had caused his own suffering of more than two years as well as his teacher's death in jail and agony to tens of millions of his fellow countrymen.'}}</ref><ref name=Palmer>{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=A.|title=Buddhist Politics: Japan's Clean Government Party|date=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-010-2996-4|quote=Toda's experience in prison had also been one of much suffering, including (it is reported) malnutrition, tuberculosis, asthma, heart trouble, diabetes, hemorrhoids and rheumatism. Besides breaking him physically, his imprisonment and the war had destroyed him financially.|page=6}}</ref>

===The reconstruction of the organization===
Toda officially re-established the organization, now under the shortened moniker ''Sōka Gakkai'' ("Value-creation society"), integrated his prison awakenings into the doctrine of the Soka Gakkai, began locating members who had dispersed during the war, started a series of lectures on the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's letters, undertook business ventures (largely unsuccessful) to provide a stream of revenue for the organization, provided personal encouragement to many members, launched a monthly study magazine {{Nihongo||大白蓮華|Daibyaku Renge}}, and the newspaper ''[[Seikyo Shimbun]]'', launched propagation efforts, and involved the active participation of youth including [[Daisaku Ikeda]] who was to become his right-hand man and successor.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bethel|first1=Dayle M.|title=Makiguchi the value creator: revolutionary Japanese educator and founder of Soka Gakkai|date=1994|publisher=Weatherhill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8348-0318-3|pages=91–3|edition= 1st paperback}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Offner|first=Clark B.|title=Modern Japanese Religions: With Special Emphasis Upon Their Doctrines of Healing|url=https://archive.org/details/modernjapanesere0000offn|year=1963|publisher=Twayne Publishers|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernjapanesere0000offn/page/101 101]–102}}</ref>

Noah Brannen, a Christian missionary writing in 1969,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mendel|first1=Douglas Jr.|title=Book Reviews|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=6119320|website=The Journal of Politics|publisher=Cambridge University|access-date=19 July 2015}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> describes the Soka Gakkai's study program at this point as "the most amazing program of indoctrination Japan has ever seen".  New members attended local study lectures, subscribed to weekly and monthly periodicals, studied Toda's commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, took annual study examinations, and were awarded titles for their achievements such as Associate Lecturer, Lecturer, Associate Teacher, or Teacher.<ref name=encounteringDharma />{{rp|142}}<ref name="mcfarland">{{cite book|last1=McFarland|first1=H. Neill|title=Rush Hour of the Gods|date=1967|location=New York|publisher=Macmillan}}</ref>{{rp|208}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brannen|first1=Noah S.|title=Soka Gakkai: Japan's Militant Buddhists|date=1968|publisher=John Knox Press|location=Richmond, VA|page=143|quote=Once a year the education department gives examinations and awards students with the four successive ranks of Associate Lecturer, Lecturer, Associate Teacher, or Teacher. Every member is expected to take the exams. In a study-conscious society and examination-oriented national system of education, Soka Gakkai's indoctrination program is manifestly compatible with the climate.}}</ref>

===="The Great Propagation Drive"====

The drive began with the 1951 inauguration speech of Josei Toda when he assumed the presidency of the organization. Before 1,500 assembled members, Toda resolved to convert 750,000 families before his death.<ref name="mclaughlin">{{cite book|last=McLaughlin|first=Levi|title=Handbook of Contemporary Japanese Religions|year=2012|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-23436-9|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uiZi2mgC5a4C&pg=PA293|chapter=Soka Gakkai in Japan}}</ref>{{rp|285–286}} The accuracy of this figure was never confirmed by outside sources.<ref name="mcfarland"/>{{rp|199}} The primary vehicle of the propagation efforts were small group [[zadankai|discussion meetings]].<ref name=Stone1994>{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=Jacqueline|date=1994|title=Rebuking the Enemies of the Lotus: Nichirenist Exclusivism in Historical Perspective|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Rebuking%20the%20Enemies%20of%20the%20Lotus%20-%20Nichirenist%20Exclusivism%20in.pdf|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=21/2-3|pages=231–259}}</ref>{{rp|252}}

There are several competing narratives that attempt to explain how the Soka Gakkai was able to achieve this rapid growth. One narrative portrays a drive powered by the "seemingly unlimited enthusiasm" of its members<ref name="mcfarland"/>{{rp|199}} that was masterminded by Toda and channeled by his younger followers.<ref name=massSociety />{{rp|41}} The organization's own publications articulate this narrative.

A second narrative examines the Soka Gakkai's expansion through a sociological lens. White, in the first English-language sociological work on the Soka Gakkai, attributes the growth, cohesion, and sustainability of the organization to the organizational skills of its leaders, its system of values and norms that match the individual needs of members, and its ability to adapt to changing times.<ref name=massSociety />{{rp|42–56}} According to Dator, the organizational structure of the Soka Gakkai, which values individual participation within small heterogeneous groups and parallel peer associations by age, gender, and interests, fulfills members' socio-psychological needs.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/3150 | title=NIRC }}</ref>

A third narrative tracks criticisms of the Soka Gakkai in the popular press and by other Buddhist sects. This narrative implies that the propagation efforts succeeded through intimidating and coercive actions committed by Soka Gakkai members<ref name=introalternative>{{cite book|editor-last=Gallagher|editor-first=Eugene V.|title=Introduction to new and alternative religions in America|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn.|isbn=978-0-275-98712-1|editor2-last=Ashcraft|editor2-first=W. Michael}}</ref><ref name=brannenMilitant>{{cite book|last=Brannen|first=Noah|title=Sōka Gakkai: Japan's militant Buddhists|year=1968|publisher=John Knox Press}}</ref>{{rp|80, 101}}<ref name=doherty>{{cite journal|last=Doherty|first=Herbert J. Jr.|title=Soka Gakkai: Religions and Politics in Japan|journal=The Massachusetts Review|date=Winter 1963|volume=4|issue=2|pages=281–286|jstor=25079014}}</ref><ref name=heine>{{cite book|editor-last=Heine|editor-first=Steven|title=Buddhism in the modern world: adaptations of an ancient tradition|year=2003|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=New York [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-19-514697-4|edition= [Reprint.].}}</ref>{{rp|217}} such as the practice then of destroying the [[kamidana|household Shinto altars]] of new members.<ref name="kisala">{{Cite book |last=Kisala |first=Robert |title=Controversial New Religions |title-link=Controversial New Religions |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-515682-9 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |edition=1st |location=New York |language=en |chapter=Soka Gakkai: Searching for the Mainstream |editor-last2=Petersen |editor-first2=Jesper Aagaard |pages=139–152}}</ref> There were reports of isolated incidents of violence conducted by Soka Gakkai members but also incidents directed toward them.<ref name=massSociety>{{cite book|last=White|first=James W.|title=The Sōkagakkai and mass society|year=1970|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, Calif.|isbn=978-0-8047-0728-2}}</ref>{{rp|49}}<ref name="mclaughlin"/>{{rp|287}}

[[File:DaisakuIkedaTokyoMay2010.jpg|150px|thumb|Daisaku Ikeda, third President of the Soka Gakkai, 2010]]
[[File:Международная Леонардо-премия 3.1.jpg|thumb|Daisaku Ikeda receiving "Leonardo Prize" in 2009 from Alexander Yakovlev]]
Jōsei Toda was succeeded as president in 1960 by the 32-year-old [[Daisaku Ikeda]]. Ikeda urged, from 1964, a gentler approach to proselytizing.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Seager|first1=Richard Hughes|title=Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the globalization of Buddhist humanism|date=2006|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-24577-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/encounteringdhar0000seag/page/97 97]|url=https://archive.org/details/encounteringdhar0000seag}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kiong|first1=Tong Chee|title=Rationalizing religion: religious conversion, revivalism, and competition in Singapore society|date=2007|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-90-04-15694-4|page=141|edition= [Online-Ausg.].|quote=[Ikeda] turned down the idea of shakubuku or aggressive proselytization for shoju a more gentle and persuasive conversion.}}</ref> Under Ikeda's leadership, the organization expanded rapidly, both inside and outside Japan during the 1960s.

Soka Gakkai's own narratives argue that within the first 16 months of Ikeda's presidency the organization grew from 1.3 million to 2.1 million members.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Offner|first1=Clark B.|last2=Straelen|first2=H. Van|title=Modern Japanese Religions: With Special Emphasis Upon Their Doctrines of Healing|url=https://archive.org/details/modernjapanesere0000offn|date=1963|publisher=Twayne Publ.|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernjapanesere0000offn/page/102 102]}}</ref> By 1967 it grew to 6.2 million families according to its own reporting.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kiyoaki Murata |title=Japan's new Buddhism: an objective account of Soka Gakkai.|date=1969|publisher=Weatherhill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8348-0040-3|page=124,127|edition=1st}}</ref> By 1968, the daily ''[[Seikyo Shimbun]]'' newspaper is supposed to have attained a circulation of 3,580,000.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kiyoaki Murata |title=Japan's New Buddhism: An Objective Account of Soka Gakkai.|date=1969|publisher=Weatherhill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8348-0040-3|page=145|edition= 1st }}</ref> Today, the Soka Gakkai claims it has a circulation of 5.5 million copies,<ref>{{Citation |last=Matsutani |first=Minoru |year=2014 |title=Soka Gakkai keeps religious, political machine humming |publisher=Japan Times |location=Tokyo, Japan }}</ref> but the number is controversial and impossible to verify since Seikyo Shinbun does not belong the [["Member News Organizations｜Pressnet". pressnet.or.jp. Retrieved 9 March 2022.|Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association]] nor the [[日本ABC協会]] who are officially in charge of the circulation numbers of Japanese newspapers.

===International growth===
In October 1960, five months after his inauguration, Ikeda and a small group of staff members visited the United States, Canada (Toronto),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morgan|first1=Diane|title=The Buddhist experience in America|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-313-32491-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/buddhistexperien0000morg/page/128 128]|edition=1st publ.|url=https://archive.org/details/buddhistexperien0000morg}}</ref> and Brazil.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Hefferan |editor-first1=Tara |editor-last2=Adkins |editor-first2=Julie |editor-last3=Occhipinti |editor-first3=Laurie |title=Bridging the gaps: faith-based organizations, neoliberalism, and development in Latin America and the Caribbean|date=2009|publisher=Lexington Books|location=Lanham, MD|isbn=978-0-7391-3287-6|page=182}}</ref> In the United States he visited Honolulu, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, meeting with members, the vast majority Japanese war brides, at discussion and guidance meetings, setting up local organizations, and appointing leaders to take responsibility.

Ikeda also expanded the scope and pattern of the Gakkai's activities. In 1961 he created an arm of the organization, the Culture Bureau, to accommodate nonreligious activities. It had departments for the study and discussion of Economics, Politics, Education, Speech, and, later in the year, the Arts.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kiyoaki Murata |title=Japan's new Buddhism: an objective account of Soka Gakkai.|date=1969|publisher=Weatherhill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8348-0040-3|page=125|edition= 1st}}</ref>

Ikeda and his team visited countries in Europe and Southeast Asia in 1961 and the Near and Middle East in 1962.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dehn|first1=Ulrich|editor1-last=Staemmler|editor1-first=Birgit|editor2-last=Dehn|editor2-first=Ulrich|editor1-link=Soka Gakkai|title=Establishing the revolutionary: an introduction to new religions in Japan|date=2011|publisher=Lit|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-643-90152-1|page=207}}</ref> By 1967 Ikeda had completed 13 trips abroad to strengthen the overseas organizations.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Urbain|first1=Olivier|title=Daisaku Ikeda and dialogue for peace|date=2013|publisher=I.B. Tauris|location=London|isbn=978-0-85772-269-0|pages=22–3}}</ref>

The Gakkai's first overseas mission, called Nichiren Shoshu of America (NSA), grew rapidly and claimed some 200,000 American adherents by 1970.<ref name=worldReligions>{{cite book|editor-last=Neusner|editor-first=Jacob|title=World religions in America: an introduction|year=2003|publisher=Westminster John Knox|location=Louisville, Ky.;London|isbn=978-0-664-22475-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldreligionsin0000unse_j3t5/page/166 166]|edition=3rd|url=https://archive.org/details/worldreligionsin0000unse_j3t5}}</ref> Ikeda founded Soka Junior and Senior High Schools in 1968 and Soka University in 1971.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kiyoaki Murata |title=Japan's new Buddhism: an objective account of Soka Gakkai.|date=1969|publisher=Weatherhill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8348-0040-3|pages=146–147|edition= 1st}}</ref> Soka Gakkai International (SGI) was formally founded in 1975, on [[Guam]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=Katherine|title=Global institutions of religion ancient movers, modern shakers|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-1-136-67344-3|page=107}}</ref>

===Founding of the Komeito===
{{Main|Komeito}}

In 1961, Soka Gakkai formed the Komei Political League. Seven of its candidates were elected to the House of Councillors. In 1964 the [[Komeito]] (Clean Government Party) was formed by Ikeda. Over the course of several elections it became the third largest political party, typically amassing 10–15% of the popular vote.<ref>{{cite book |author=Masumi Junnosuke |translator=Lonny E. Carlile |title=Contemporary politics in Japan|date=1995|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-05854-5|pages=397–8}}</ref> The New Komeito Party was founded in 1998 and has been allied with the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) since 1999.

In 2014, the New Komeito was renamed Komeito again.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001596489|title=New Komeito changes name back to Komeito}}</ref> Komeito generally supports the policy agenda of the LDP, including the reinterpretation of the pacifist [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution|Article 9]] of the [[Constitution of Japan]], proposed in 2014 by LDP Prime Minister [[Shinzō Abe]] to allow "collective defense" and to fight in foreign conflicts.<ref name=Asahi20140727>{{cite news|title=MAJOR SECURITY SHIFT: Local New Komeito officials oppose collective self-defense |url=http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201406290025 |newspaper=Asahi Shimbun |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727023918/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201406290025|archive-date=2014-07-27}}</ref><ref name="reference to NY times">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/world/asia/japans-lower-house-passes-bills-giving-military-freer-hand-to-fight.html?_r=0|title=Japan Moves to Allow Military Combat for First Time in 70 Years|journal=The New York Times|date=2015-07-16|last1=Soble|first1=Jonathan}}</ref>

===1969: Crisis and transformation===
In response to criticism, Ikeda made major shifts to the Gakkai's message.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Seager|first1=Richard Hughes|title=Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the globalization of Buddhist humanism|date=2006|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-24577-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encounteringdhar0000seag/page/97 97–8]|quote=Ikeda took [the free speech issue] seriously and made it the starting point for a process of critical self-examination that resulted in his once again re-creating the Gakkai.&nbsp;... The free speech issue gave him a platform from which to make shifts in emphasis of such magnitude that some members recall that it took them a year or more to grasp his intent fully.|url=https://archive.org/details/encounteringdhar0000seag}}</ref> He committed the organization to the rights of free speech and freedom of religion, admitting it had been intolerant and overly sensitive in the past.

In the 1970s Ikeda helped transition the Soka Gakkai from an internally focused organization centered on its own membership growth to one adopting a focus on a motto of "Peace, Culture, and Education". On October 12, 1972, at the official opening of the [[Shohondo]] at Taiseki-ji Ikeda announced the start of the Soka Gakkai's "Phase Two" which would shift direction from aggressive expansion to a movement for international peace through friendship and exchange.<ref name="Profile: Soka Gakkai">{{cite web|title=Profile: Soka Gakkai|url=http://www.wrs.vcu.edu/profiles/SokaGakkai.htm|website=THE WORLD RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUALITY PROJECT (WRSP)|publisher=Virginia Commonwealth University|quote=On October 12, 1972, during ceremonies marking the opening of the completed Shōhondō at Taisekiji, Ikeda delivered a speech announcing the start of Sōka Gakkai's "Phase Two", describing a turn away from aggressive expansion toward envisioning the Gakkai as an international movement promoting peace through friendship and cultural exchange.}}</ref>

===Scandals in the 1990s===
Nichiren Shōshū excommunicated the Soka Gakkai and the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) on 28 November 1991 due to doctrinal conflicts and the reputation of the Soka Gakkai, at that time entangled in political and financial scandals.

In 1991, the Soka Gakkai had to pay $4.5 million in back taxes on 2.4 billion yen (US$1.7 million) of undeclared income.