Editing Soka Gakkai (section)

==Controversies==

In 1969, prominent university professor Fujiwara Hirotatsu authored the book ''I Denounce Soka Gakkai (Soka Gakkai o kiru)''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fujiwara|first1=Hirotatsu |translator=Worth C Grant |title=What shall we do about this Japan: I denounce Soka Gakkai|publisher=Nisshin Hodo Co.|date=1970|isbn=978-91-1-013550-5}}</ref> in which he severely criticized the Gakkai. The Gakkai and Kōmeitō attempted to use their political power to suppress its publication. When Fujiwara went public with the attempted suppression, the Soka Gakkai was harshly criticized in the Japanese media.<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|page=398}}</ref>

=== Cult status ===
Soka Gakkai has been described as a [[cult]].<ref name="McElhinney 2022 a248"/><ref name="electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies 2017 j471">{{cite web | title=The Roots of the Contemporary Image of Japanese Cults | last=Sakai |first=Noboru |website=electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies | date=2017-08-27 | url=https://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ejcjs/vol17/iss2/sakai.html | access-date=2024-01-09 |quote=Note 1: ...Regardless of its reputation since the end of World War II (both positive and negative), Soka Gakkai began to be called a cult by some people after the Tokyo subway sarin attack and the clear appearance of Aum Supreme Truth, so at least Soka Gakkai itself is not the root image of cults in Japan independently, though it may also, even partly, be the case that the early stage of Soka Gakkai gave some sort of conceptual image of a cult.}}</ref> Particular controversies have arisen around its entry into politics with the [[New Komeito]] and an alleged [[cult of personality]] surrounding former leader [[Daisaku Ikeda]]. Seizaburo Sato, deputy director of the [[National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies]], described Soka Gakkai as "a dictatorship built around the person of one man."<ref name="sect_rise_pol">{{Cite news |title=A Sect's Political Rise Creates Uneasiness in Japan (Published 1999) |work=[[The New York Times]] |date= 14 November 1999|access-date=20 June 2024 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/14/world/a-sect-s-political-rise-creates-uneasiness-in-japan.html |quote=a dictatorship built around the person of one man |last1= French|first1= Howard W.}}</ref> Soka Gakkai members have made arson attacks and bomb threat against rival groups, as well as wiretapping the house of the [[Communist Party of Japan]] leader. Soka Gakkai has distanced themselves from these members and attributed their actions to [[mental illness]].<ref name="gonna_be_a_doozy">{{Cite news |title=A Sect's Political Rise Creates Uneasiness in Japan (Published 1999) |work=[[The New York Times]] |date= 14 November 1999|access-date=20 June 2024 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/14/world/a-sect-s-political-rise-creates-uneasiness-in-japan.html|last1= French|first1= Howard W.}}. "Members of the group have used arson and a bomb threat against temples of rival Buddhist groups. Soka Gakkai has also tried to block the publication of critical books, and members were convicted of wiretapping the house of the Communist Party leader. A spokesman said the bomb threat and arson incidents involved ''individuals with histories of mental illness'' and denied that Soka Gakkai had ever ordered violence or harassment."</ref> [[Rick Alan Ross]], cult specialist and founder of the nonprofit Cult Education Institute, considers them a "destructive cult" and claims to have "received serious complaints from former members and from family members."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monumental Error? How a Statue Honoring a Controversial Japanese Religious Leader Wound Up in a Chicago Park |author= |work=Newcity |date=6 December 2012 |access-date=20 June 2024 |url= https://www.newcity.com/2012/12/06/culture-clash-whats-a-sculpture-honoring-a-controversial-japanese-religious-leader-doing-in-a-chicago-park/}}</ref>

=== Sexual assault allegation ===
In June 1996, Nobuko Nobuhira, a long-time Sokka Gakkai member, filed a 75 million yen civil suit against Ikeda, alleging that he raped her on three occasions, including at the sect's facilities and on a street in Hokkaido. Sokka Gakkai lawyers denied these claims, calling them "groundless fabrications motivated by personal resentment" and alleging that Nobuhira had extorted money from Soka Gakkai members. The lawsuit was dismissed in 1996, and an appeal was denied in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hideko Takayama |title=A Buddhist Leader Is Accused Of Rape|work=[[Newsweek]] |date=1996-07-08|ref=none}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |title=Soka Gakkai head Ikeda allegedly raped follower|work=[[Japan Times]] |date=1996-06-05|ref=none}}<!-- archived at https://www.culteducation.com/group/940-soka-gakkai/7662-soka-gakkai-head-ikeda-allegedly-raped-follower.html--></ref>

=== Lawsuit versus U.S. Army Corp of Engineers ===
In 2025, Soka Gakkai International-USA filed a lawsuit attempting to stop an Army Corp of Engineers construction project which Soka Gakkai claimed would interfere with the group's religious practice at a retreat center in the Florida Everglades.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Fanelli |first=James |date=2025-04-07 |title=Even Buddhists Can't Find Peace in the Florida Everglades |url=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/even-buddhists-cant-find-peace-in-the-florida-everglades-44bc8753?mod=hp_featst_pos4 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref> The group contends that the Corps' planned 7-story high pump station and water-impounded area would interfere with the serenity of the retreat center, and that the project is unlawful because the Corps allegedly did not study the environmental impact the project would have.<ref name=":2" /> The Corps disputed the group's allegations and stated that the project is crucial to improving the flow of water in the Everglades, and that it has planned a sound barrier and wildlife fencing around the project to mitigate concerns.<ref name=":2" /> In January 2025, a federal Magistrate Judge denied Soka Gakkai's request for a preliminary injunction to halt the project, ruling that the group's claims of harm were too speculative to support a preliminary injunction.<ref name=":2" />