CategoryOur History

In the spring of 1974, the Watergate scandal dominated the news, and the U.S. was still a year away from ending its involvement in the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, fresh in people’s minds were the tragic assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy six years earlier. It was in this milieu that,

The following article is the fourth in a five-part series describing the events leading up to April 24, 1979, when Daisaku Ikeda stepped down as third Soka Gakkai president to protect the members from the perverse machinations of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood, which sought to wrest control of the lay organization. This incident came to

The Mentor-Disciple Relationship and the Journey of Kosen-rufu

On March 16, 1958, in the predawn chill at the foot of Mount Fuji, 6,000 youth assembled, unaware they were to make history. There, the second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda would announce that he was passing the baton of kosen-rufu to the youth. Japan’s prime minister had originally agreed to attend the ceremony, but

Born in a small fishing village in Japan, Nichiren witnessed firsthand the suffering of ordinary people in a country plagued by violence and disasters. His deep concern led him, as a young boy, to pray “to become the wisest person in Japan” in order to discover a solution (“The Tripitaka Master Shan-wu-wei,” The Writings of Nichiren

The Mentor-Disciple Relationship and the Journey of Kosen-rufu

The following article is the third in a five-part series describing the events leading up to April 24, 1979, when Daisaku Ikeda stepped down as third Soka Gakkai president to protect the members from the perverse machinations of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood, which sought to wrest control of the lay organization. This incident came to

The following article is the second in a five-part series describing the events leading up to April 24, 1979, when Daisaku Ikeda stepped down as third Soka Gakkai president to protect the members from the perverse machinations of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood, which sought to wrest control of the lay organization. This incident came to

The Mentor-Disciple Relationship and the Journey of Kosen-rufu

The Soka Gakkai International turns 44 on Jan. 26. To commemorate SGI Day, please enjoy these excerpts from volume 21 of The New Human Revolution. SGI President Ikeda, who established the global kosen-rufu movement, appears in the novel as Shin’ichi Yamamoto. The sun of peace had risen. A new curtain had lifted on worldwide kosen-rufu.

There have always been songs that rouse hope in people’s hearts for the flourishing of culture and the emergence of the people. Shin’ichi wanted to compose a song of life that would inspire all members to build a new age of humanistic culture and humanism. SGI President Ikeda introduced the “Song of Human Revolution” at

Seventy years later, lessons gleaned from Daisaku Ikeda’s time working for Josei Toda’s company. August 14, 1947. Daisaku Ikeda was 19 years old when he attended his first Soka Gakkai discussion meeting amid the devastation of a war-torn, defeated Japan. His eldest brother, Kiichi, had been killed during World War II and his family home

Vigilantly Safeguarding Buddhism

The Mentor-Disciple Relationship and the Journey of Kosen-rufu