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.
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