A Grand Bastion of the Written Word

This monthly encouragement by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda was originally published in the September 2019 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal.

In one of his letters, Nichiren Daishonin praises a female disciple named Onichi-nyo, who was making sincere efforts to support kosen-rufu in spite of her modest circumstances. He explains to her: “A single character of the Lotus Sutra is like the great earth, which gives rise to all things. A single character is like the great ocean, which contains the water from all rivers. A single character is like the sun and moon, which illuminate all four continents. This single character changes and … becomes a Buddha” (“Reply to Onichi-nyo,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 1089).

The Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin’s writings carry the living voices of Shakyamuni and Nichiren, both of whom spoke out tirelessly in their determined effort to help all people attain enlightenment. In this age of the Latter Day of the Law—an age of quarrels and disputes—the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper Seikyo Shimbun, fully imbued with the wondrous power of each word of these sacred texts, is carrying on the great struggle to communicate the truth through the written word.

I will never forget the early days of the Seikyo Shimbun when, under the leadership of my great mentor in kosen-rufu, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, I exerted myself energetically in editing, delivering and promoting the paper. I still fondly recall our small, cramped editorial office in the Ichigaya Building (near Tokyo’s Ichigaya Station).

Our members have embraced the Seikyo Shimbun and worked wholeheartedly to realize the shared wish of mentor and disciple to enable people all around Japan and the world to read our newspaper. Today, the Seikyo Shimbun has gained a large and dedicated readership, and some 80 sister publications, such as the Hwakwang Shinmun of SGI-South Korea (KSGI), have appeared across the globe.