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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1963)
12 C TIIUIISIMY, MiCliiHBIiR 12, 11)6,1 MEDFOttD MAIL TniBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON uddhist Seel AMBITIOUS BUDDHISTS - Soka Gakkai, a society of fanatic Japanese Buddhists, in Tokyo, is determined to conquer Japan, America and the entire world with the Buddhist religion. In this photo, Daisaku Ikeda, president of the organization, acts as cheer leader during a Soka Gakkai mass meeting. (UPI) United I'rcss International TOKYO (UPI) - In a Tokyo newspaper cartoon, a little girl fingers the Christian religious medal hanging from her father's neck. "Daddy," says the caption, "you're the only one that wears this any more." The newspaper is called Seik yo News. It is the mouthpiece of Soka Gakkai, a society of fanatic Japanese Buddhists who are determined to conquer Japan, America and the entire world with their peculiar relig ion. Another issue of the paper blisters American Christianity (or its handling of the Negro problem. Soka Gakkai means business. In Japan it is the wonder of the post-war religious world, a mix ture of religion and politics that has jolted older religions and thrown a scare into politicians. Abroad, it is the subject of controversy. The Roman Catho lic weekly "America" calls it a movement of "present power and potential danger." Grows In Numbers Soka Gakkai had only a hand ful of followers in 1945 today it claims 10 million throughout the . world, although informed observers are skeptical. In America, it boasts 4,000 follow ers in Los Angeles alone. Its professed aim is to estab lish a "third civilization" that is neither capitalist nor Commu nist. Us enemies compare it with Hitler's nazism, and other Bud dhist sects in Jaoan arc gang ing up to fight it. It has won converts among American service men in Japan, working on them through their Japanese wives. U. S. military authorities refuse any public comment on it, but watch it closely. "Our organization now has Comrtrofl of World, El ClOBOl one million vouths." savs Soka Gakkai's well tailored president, Dai Saku Ikeda. "This means the future of Japan is in our hands." Soka Gakkai, written with four Chinese characters which mean create-value-learning - so ciety, has made its biggest in roads among the poor and friendless of Japanese society. The underpaid housemaid, the harrassed shopkeeper, the threadbare pensioner and the small town boy lonely at some obscure job in Tokyo arc its natural targets. It has made little headway among the pros perous and successful people in Japan. Uses Hard-Spit Technique The worst criticisms that have been leveled against Soka Gak kai involve its forceful system of winning converts, and its ac tive intolerance of other relig ions, even other forms of Buddhism. Royal Families Use Symbols for Plates WASHINGTON (UPI) - Even royalty is in the game of using automobile license plates as cherished status symbols. The National Geographic So ciety here reports that the Ma harana of Udaipur, for exam ple, disdains mere numbers for his royal Rolls-Royce. His car carries a brilliant gold sun disk, the family symbol. In the liny Himalayan king dom of Sikkim, the royal fam ily's tags simply bear the word "Sikkim." ODD JOBS SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) - A report of the local Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Ani mals showed its work included handling two snakes, two skunks a monkey, a crab and a crocodile. I! draws its inspiration from a medieval Japanese Buddhist prophet named Nichiren, who called members of other Bud dhist sects "fiends" and "devils." A prospective convert is apt to be besieged virtually night and day by Soka Gakkai work ers, pleading, praying and threatening. Sometimes the con vert gives in just to get a little peace. People entering the religion for the first time go to a tem ple for a ceremony. They re ceive a replica of a slab of wood on which Nichiren in scribed the essence of his re ligious thinking. Called a "hon zon" or "basic object of wor ship," it must be enshrined in the believer's home. Prayers are said in front of it every morning and night. Alarming to the Japanese po litical world has been Soka Gak kai's demonstrated ability to de liver its followers' votes. Can didates with Soka Gakkai back ing seldom get beaten, especial ly in the Tokyo area. Like Christianity, Buddhism is fragmented into a wide range of sects. The Indian teacher Gautama, who founded the re ligion 400 years before Christ, had been dead eight centuries when Buddhism arrived in Ja pan via China. By that time a host of prophets had embroider ed Gautama's ideas almost be yond recognition. The Japanese continued the process, creating purely Japa nese sects different from any in the Buddhist world. One of these is the Nichiren Sho sect, for which Soka Gakkai is a lay organization. "Soka Gakkai is peculiarly Japanese," says Woodward. "I certainly can't see it spreading widely in the United States. Out side Japan, I think it will be confined to places where the Japanese live." The reiigious movement that was to disturb post-war Japan and arouse anxiety in far parts of the world was the creation of two obscure provincial school teachers. It was founded in 1037 by Tcunesaburo Magiguchi, a pri m a r y school principal and Nichiren Buddhist. Soka Gak kai's fanatic character soon got it into trouble with the Japanese militarists Soka Gakkai re jected emperor worship. Its leaders were jailed during the war, and Makiguchi died in prison. Toda Took Lead His collaborator, Josei Toda, survived the war and turned i Soka Gakkai into what it is to day. Toda's years as a teacher had given him a complete mas tery of the techniques of mass teaching. He was also a bril liant and forceful writer of propaganda. It was he who worked out Soka Gakkai's hard hitting conversion techniques. Before he died in 1058, he had pushed Soka Gakkai's member ship past the million mark, and laid the foundations for future growth. When he died, leader ship passed to Daisaku Ikeda, a professional Soka Gakkai work er. Ikeda was 32 years old at the time the same age as Nichi ren when the medieval prophet proclaimed his new and intoler ant brand of Buddhism. Third Largest Soka Gakkai got into politics in 1055, electing 00 candidates to town councils in Tokyo and other ci nmunities. "Oil To Burn" S&H Green Stamps MEDFORD FUEL CO. Phone 772-2111 B? 1962, the number of Soka Gakkai members in the House of Councillors had swelled to 15, making it the third largest party in the upper house. In Tokyo this spring it ran 136 candidates for ward coun cils, and elected all of them. Throughout the country it back ed 604 city council candidates, and 587 of them won. Occasionally it delivers its votes to candidates of the major ;urtics. Usually it backs men from the Conservative party, which currently governs the country with pro-American and anti-Communist policies. Politically, Soka Gakkai still is vague about what its pro posed "third civilization" is to consist of. Claims All Roses As a large and well-disciplined organization, it is a standing target for Communist infiltra tion. Red China's official pub lications have said kind things about it, and three of its leaders were invited to the Soviet Union this year. But there are no signs that the Communists have made any headway in pene trating it. In planning its campaign in America, Soka Gakkai has taken a multi-racial approach. It now claims Negroes, Mexicans, Chi nese and Filipinos among its followers, along with Japanese. Seizing on the Japanese wives of service men as a vehicle for pushing Buddhism in America, Soka Gakkai organizes English classes to help them spread the faith when they take up resi dence in America. There are chapters almost everywhere in the non-Communist Far East save for Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist China, which has banned Soka Gakkai because of its attack on estab lished government. America is apt to hear more about Soka Gakkai and Bud dhism in general in the decades ahead. After a long sleep, the old faith of Asia shows signs of stirring. When it harnesses the techniques of modern propagan da and organization, as Soka Gakkai already has done, a new competitor may be ready to enter the battle for men's minds. moxeme m flavors WHEN FRIENDS DROP-IN. s5?vc TOM & JERRY The '- Holiday. Hospitality I urn I Save Cash & Get &x. 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