Editing Soka Gakkai (section)

=== 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>