Editing Soka Gakkai (section)

==Former relations with the Nichiren Shoshu sect==
Generally speaking, Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shōshū worked in harmony before 1990, although there were moments of tension. An early example of strained relations came during World War II, in 1943, when the Nichiren sect's headquarters at [[Taiseki-ji]] was willing to comply with Japanese government demands to enshrine a [[State Shinto|Shinto]] [[talisman]] of the Sun Goddess [[Amaterasu]] inside the temple. Makiguchi and Toda, on the other hand, angrily rebuked Taiseki-ji for doing so, and the two were jailed for refusing to do the same (Makiguchi would also die while in prison).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Métraux |first=Daniel A. |date=1992 |title=The Dispute between the Sōka Gakkai and the Nichiren Shōshū Priesthood: A Lay Revolution against a Conservative Clergy |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=325–336 |doi=10.18874/jjrs.19.4.1992.325-336 |jstor=30233480 |issn=0304-1042|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Nikken Abe]] excommunicated Soka Gakkai and its senior leaders in November 1991, citing doctrinal deviations, the Soka Gakkai's usurpation of rites such as the Higan-e equinox ceremonies and funerals without Nichiren Shoshu priests officiating, its defiant staging of Ode to Joy concerts that, for their Christian themes, were incongruent with Nichiren Shoshu doctrine, and a speech (which became public when a recording was leaked) by then Soka Gakkai President Daisaku Ikeda.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} It also condemned Ikeda for abandoning the aggressive propagation style (shakubuku) that led to some social criticism of the lay group, though not the priesthood.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dobbelaere|first1=Karel|title=Soka Gakkai|page=12|quote=Other criticisms were more fundamental. For example, the president was criticized for having abandoned shakubuku as a method of proselytism in favor of the shoju method.}}</ref> In response, the Soka Gakkai countered by outlining Nichiren Shoshu's deviation from their own interpretation of Nichiren's doctrines, along with accusations of [[simony]] and [[hedonism]] among its ranking priests.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The priesthood further accused the organization of impiety and sacrilegious behavior, citing the song "[[Ode to Joy]]" along with the promotion of its musical performance, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, as evidence for non-Buddhist teachings.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/728847|title=Faith and Practice: Bringing Religion, Music and Beethoven to Life in Soka Gakkai|journal=Social Science Japan Journal|last1=McLaughlin|first1=Levi|date=January 2003|volume=6|issue=2|pages=161–179|doi=10.1093/ssjj/6.2.161}}</ref>

In 2014, the Soka Gakkai rewrote its bylaws to reflect that it no longer had any relationship with Nichiren Shoshu or its doctrine.<ref name="Reaffirming the Original Spirit of">{{cite journal|last1=Harada|first1=Minoru|title=Reaffirming the Original Spirit of Nichiren Buddhism|journal=World Tribune|date=December 12, 2014|page=5}}</ref>