Introduction Josei Toda (1900-58) was the second president of the Soka Gakkai, one of Japan's most influential lay Buddhist movements.
Based on the teachings of the 13th-century Buddhist reformer Nichiren (1222-82), Toda developed a methodology of personal transformation called "Human Revolution" that has become the foundation underlying the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a worldwide organization of engaged Buddhists promoting peace and personal empowerment throughout the world.
The early years of Toda's career were spent as a teacher. At the age of 19, he encountered his mentor, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944), also an educator. Makiguchi was developing an educational theory (value-creating pedagogy) that was in stark contrast to the methods in use in Japan at the time, placing priority on the happiness of the children and inspiring in them the will to study, rather than the educational orthodoxy that sought to produce obedient subjects of the state.
Toda became his enthusiastic helper and supporter in this endeavor. It was Toda who actualized many of Makiguchi's ideas, founding a school where innovative educational theories were implemented in classroom situations. Toda helped Makiguchi publish his major work, The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy.
In 1928, Makiguchi embraced Nichiren Buddhism. Its emphasis on human dignity was also consistent with Toda's own beliefs, and he too subsequently took faith. The publication in 1930 of The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy is recognized as the foundation by Makiguchi and Toda of an organization called Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creating Education Society), whose original aim was to promote Makiguchi's value-creating educational theories.
The organization steadily developed into a body promoting social and religious reform through the practice of Nichiren Buddhism, seeking to empower ordinary people to become self-reliant individuals.
Japan, however, had by this time embarked on a program of military expansion in Asia which culminated in its involvement in World War II. The militarist authorities viewed Soka Kyoiku Gakkai as a threat to their attempts to impose religious and thought control, and in 1943 Toda was detained along with Makiguchi and other leaders of the organization. Makiguchi died in prison while Toda was released shortly before the end of the war; both remained steadfast in their faith till the end.
The experience of imprisonment was crucial in awakening Toda to his mission to encourage the widespread practice of Nichiren Buddhism in order to build the foundations for a peaceful society.
After emerging from prison, Toda set out to rebuild Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, which had been crushed during the war.
The organization was now renamed Soka Gakkai (Society for the Creation of Value), a move that reflected a broad commitment to realizing global peace and the well-being of people of all walks of life and empowering individuals through Buddhist practice.
As second president, Toda developed the Soka Gakkai into one of Japan's most significant lay Buddhist associations, setting the stage for its growth into a dynamic worldwide grassroots movement. Toward the end of his life, he advocated a vision of global citizenship and, in 1957, issued a historic declaration calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, entrusting the task of realizing his vision to young people.
Toda passed away on April 2, 1958. His major writings include the million-selling A Deductive Guide to Arithmetic and the novel Human Revolution. A man of unadorned and overflowing humanity, Toda embraced everyone he met with his passionate encouragement.
Based on the teachings of the 13th-century Buddhist reformer Nichiren (1222-82), Toda developed a methodology of personal transformation called "Human Revolution" that has become the foundation underlying the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a worldwide organization of engaged Buddhists promoting peace and personal empowerment throughout the world.
The early years of Toda's career were spent as a teacher. At the age of 19, he encountered his mentor, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944), also an educator. Makiguchi was developing an educational theory (value-creating pedagogy) that was in stark contrast to the methods in use in Japan at the time, placing priority on the happiness of the children and inspiring in them the will to study, rather than the educational orthodoxy that sought to produce obedient subjects of the state.
Toda became his enthusiastic helper and supporter in this endeavor. It was Toda who actualized many of Makiguchi's ideas, founding a school where innovative educational theories were implemented in classroom situations. Toda helped Makiguchi publish his major work, The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy.
In 1928, Makiguchi embraced Nichiren Buddhism. Its emphasis on human dignity was also consistent with Toda's own beliefs, and he too subsequently took faith. The publication in 1930 of The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy is recognized as the foundation by Makiguchi and Toda of an organization called Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creating Education Society), whose original aim was to promote Makiguchi's value-creating educational theories.
The organization steadily developed into a body promoting social and religious reform through the practice of Nichiren Buddhism, seeking to empower ordinary people to become self-reliant individuals.
Japan, however, had by this time embarked on a program of military expansion in Asia which culminated in its involvement in World War II. The militarist authorities viewed Soka Kyoiku Gakkai as a threat to their attempts to impose religious and thought control, and in 1943 Toda was detained along with Makiguchi and other leaders of the organization. Makiguchi died in prison while Toda was released shortly before the end of the war; both remained steadfast in their faith till the end.
The experience of imprisonment was crucial in awakening Toda to his mission to encourage the widespread practice of Nichiren Buddhism in order to build the foundations for a peaceful society.
After emerging from prison, Toda set out to rebuild Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, which had been crushed during the war.
The organization was now renamed Soka Gakkai (Society for the Creation of Value), a move that reflected a broad commitment to realizing global peace and the well-being of people of all walks of life and empowering individuals through Buddhist practice.
As second president, Toda developed the Soka Gakkai into one of Japan's most significant lay Buddhist associations, setting the stage for its growth into a dynamic worldwide grassroots movement. Toward the end of his life, he advocated a vision of global citizenship and, in 1957, issued a historic declaration calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, entrusting the task of realizing his vision to young people.
Toda passed away on April 2, 1958. His major writings include the million-selling A Deductive Guide to Arithmetic and the novel Human Revolution. A man of unadorned and overflowing humanity, Toda embraced everyone he met with his passionate encouragement.
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Toda Years: 1945-1958
Jōsei Toda, second President of the Sōka Gakkai
Main article: Jōsei Toda
The reconstruction of the organizationJōsei Toda was released from prison in 1945 and immediately set out to rebuild what had been lost during the war.[23]
The years after the war and the granting of religious freedom as a constitutional right became the "rush hour of the gods" according to McFarland. The Soka Gakkai was one of many new religious movements that appeared and, from an organization of approximately 500 families in 1951, the Soka Gakkai expanded rapidly in a decade's time and gained widespread public recognition.[24] The unprecedented growth of the Soka Gakkai stands out from the other new religions, due to both Toda's skill as an organizer and the social dislocation of the time.[25]
The groundwork for this accomplishment can be found in Toda's work during the years between his release from prison (1945) and his inauguration (1951). He officially re-established the organization, now under the shortened moniker Sōka Gakkai (lit. "Value-creation society"), integrated his prison awakenings into the doctrine of the Soka Gakkai, began locating members who had been dispersed during the war, started a series of lectures on the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's letters, undertook business ventures (largely unsuccessful) to provide a stream of revenue for the organization, provided personal encouragement to many members, launched a monthly study magazine Daibyaku Renge (大白蓮華?), and the newspaper Seikyo Shimbun, launched propagation efforts, and involved the active participation of youth including Daisaku Ikeda who was to become his right-hand man and successor.[26][27]
Brannen, a Christian missionary writing in 1969,[28] describes the Soka Gakkai's study program at this point as "the most amazing program of indoctrination Japan has ever seen." New members attended local study lectures, subscribed to weekly and monthly periodicals, studied Toda's commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, took annual study examinations, and were awarded titles for their achievements such as Associate Lecturer, Lecturer, Associate Teacher, or Teacher.[22]:142[29][30]:208 The main difference between the Gakkai examination system and that found in other areas of education is the object of the exercise is not the successful completion of an examination paper, but preparation for it by way of meetings in study discussion groups. "The tenor of the meetings is one of open discussion rather than didactic teaching…" Comments on Nichiren’s teachings are welcomed, "dictatorial edicts on moral behavior are not." [31] Writing in 1962, Brannen reports on one member who found it difficult to find advanced study material.[32]
"The Great Shakubuku March"
During his acceptance speech as second president in 1951, Toda placed a formidable challenge to the approximately 1500 congregated members: to convert 750,000 families before his death. He added: "If this goal is not realized while I am still alive, do not hold a funeral for me. Simply dump my remains in the bay at Shinagawa."[33]:285–286 In the ensuing period from 1951 to 1957, the organization doubled or tripled in size every year, published the first Nichiko Hori edition of Nichiren’s complete works, and fielded candidates in local political elections.[34][35] The organization’s rapid growth was widely publicized, as were controversial incidents provoked by the organization’s aggressive conversion efforts, described as "shakubuku," and its entrance into the political arena.
Toda adopted a method of proselytizing based on Nichiren teachings on shakubuku (折伏), often translated character for character as "break and subdue (attachments to) inferior teachings"[36] or else as "forced conversion";[37] At least one scholar, however, disputes the appellation of "forced," writing that "When Charlemagne told the Saxons to be baptized or die, that was forced conversion. Sokagakkai members are said to warn potential converts of dire consequences if they fail to join up, but they do not have the power of life or death."[38] Shakubuku, essentially, is the more assertive of two different methods of proselytizing traditionally employed by Nichiren adherents, in which the proselytizer directly confronts a non-adherent about the falsity of their beliefs.
The approach to propagation appealed strongly to segments of the population that had been marginalized or dislocated after the war.[39] The press covered many extreme incidents of propagation but did not cover the many examples of conversion accomplished through "moral suasion."[40]
Toda made both moderating and aggressive speeches about propagation. In a January 1954 speech Toda cautioned his followers to be sensible in their propagation efforts.[41] In October 1954, however, Toda made a speech to over 10,000 Gakkai members while mounted on a white horse, proclaiming: "We must consider all religions our enemies, and we must destroy them."[4][33]
The Sōka Gakkai first entered into politics in 1955.[42] According to Brannen, Toda's view was that following the teachings of Nichiren, the day was soon to come when the true teachings of the Gakkai would become the law of the State and when Sōka Gakkai became the ruling government, a "national altar" would be built at Mount Fuji.[32]
Toda's brand of shakubuku was of an unusually aggressive nature and would come to give Soka Gakkai a reputation of militancy and widespread criticism in the popular press and by other Buddhist sects.[5][11][43] A 1952 investigation by the Department of Justice resulted in a demand that Toda write a statement to the special investigations bureau that Soka Gakkai members would refrain from the illegal use of violence or threats in their proselytizing.[44]:217 A 1955 report, similar to others, described an incident in which an initially ambivalent woman relented only after members over several days warned of "some terrible calamity" if she did not join.[11]:104Threats of divine vengeance and bodily harm were frequent, and a child's illness or death could be attributed to not having already joined the Gakkai.[30]:199[45]:82 Local leadership would often destroy the household Shinto altars of new members.[4]
There are reports of isolated incidents of violence conducted by Soka Gakkai members but also directed toward them; they were sometimes chased away from the houses they surrounded.[33]:287[45]:49 The use of violence and intimidation as a part of the shakubuku campaign during The Great Propagation March has been dismissed by the Gakkai as "excessive zeal on the part of uneducated members," but evidence shows that much of it before 1967 was actually organized by its high-ranking leaders.[46]:74
Anne Mette Fisker-Nielsen has questioned whether forced activities alone could result in the continuous actions needed to sustain such a successful campaign.[47]Members attributed success to Toda's charisma and ability to inspire them personally.[48]
While shakubuku was a controversial practice, it was certainly successful: during Toda's presidency, the Gakkai's official ledgers count an increase from 3,000 households to the 750,000 that Toda had demanded at the outset of his presidency - thereby smoothly avoiding the need to meet Toda's request that his body should be dumped in Shinagawa bay.[33]:285–286 The accuracy of this figure was never confirmed by outside sources.[30]:199 Whether or not the 750,000 number was strictly true, the Gakkai's membership had certainly grown. Many of the new recruits had been found among the "downtrodden classes" in the larger urban areas who had sometimes been excluded from the benefits of the "upward swing" during the postwar reconstruction boom.[42]
Relationship with Nichiren Shoshu
The relationship with the parent organisation Nichiren Shōshū went through highs and lows during Toda's presidency.
One controversial event that occurred at the end of the first year of Toda's presidency was the "Tanuki (raccoon dog) festival incident." The festivities marked the 700th anniversary of Nichiren’s first proclamation of Nam(u)-Myoho-Renge-Kyo took place on April 28, 1952. A total of about 4,000 Gakkai members joined the occasion at Taiseki-ji, the Nichiren Shōshū head temple. Among them was a group of 47 men belonging to the Gakkai's youth division who confronted a priest named Jimon Ogasawara who had allegedly cooperated with the authorities during the war.[49] The group was led by President Toda and Daisaku Ikeda (who would eventually become the organization's third president). When Ogasawara initially refused to apologize, the men mobbed him, tore off his vestments and tagged him with a placard reading "raccoon dog monk".[50] He was forcibly carried to Makiguchi's grave, where he was made to sign a written apology.[51]:96–97[52]:698–711 Murata reports that Toda told him in an interview that he hit Ogasawara twice during the ordeal.[53]
Toda was temporarily banned from entering the temple.[51]:96–97[54] Though no legal action was taken, in a 1956 interview Toda reflected that this incident sparked extremely unfavorable press ooverage which painted the Soka Gakkai as a violent religion.[55][56] Japan Times[57]:705–711:705–711[source needs translation]
Despite this incident Nichiren Shoshu priests said they considered Toda the greatest among lay people and after his death they bestowed upon him the honorific name Chief of All Preachers of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Kōsō Kōtō)[58] During Toda's presidency the Soka Gakkai donated temples to Nichiren Shoshu including the Grand Lecture Hall, dedicated on March 1958.[59]
Death and Legacy
Toda died on April 2, 1958. The funeral was held at his home, but the coffin was afterwards carried past weeping, chanting crowds to the Ikebukuro temple Jozaiji, where he was buried.[22]:84 The then prime minister Nobusuke Kishi attended the funeral - something that scandalized "quite a few Japanese" but was a testament to how the Gakkai had grown to a force to be reckoned with under Toda.[51]:116[60]
Murata claims that for two years after Toda's death, there was a leadership vacuum and the Gakkai had no president, as it was unclear if anyone was able to replace him.[51]:118 Other scholars disagree, claiming Ikeda became the de facto leader of the Soka Gakkai right away. Three months after Toda's death Ikeda, at age 30, was appointed the organization's General Administrator, in 1959 he became the head of its board of directors, and, on May 3, 1960, its third president.[61][62]
It appears that some aspects of the aggressive approach to propagation continued after Toda's death. In eyewitness reports of a session in 1964, Gakkai members surrounded a home, yelled and made noise for hours until the residents relented and agreed to join.[45]:82
Jōsei Toda, second President of the Sōka Gakkai
Main article: Jōsei Toda
The reconstruction of the organizationJōsei Toda was released from prison in 1945 and immediately set out to rebuild what had been lost during the war.[23]
The years after the war and the granting of religious freedom as a constitutional right became the "rush hour of the gods" according to McFarland. The Soka Gakkai was one of many new religious movements that appeared and, from an organization of approximately 500 families in 1951, the Soka Gakkai expanded rapidly in a decade's time and gained widespread public recognition.[24] The unprecedented growth of the Soka Gakkai stands out from the other new religions, due to both Toda's skill as an organizer and the social dislocation of the time.[25]
The groundwork for this accomplishment can be found in Toda's work during the years between his release from prison (1945) and his inauguration (1951). He officially re-established the organization, now under the shortened moniker Sōka Gakkai (lit. "Value-creation society"), integrated his prison awakenings into the doctrine of the Soka Gakkai, began locating members who had been dispersed during the war, started a series of lectures on the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's letters, undertook business ventures (largely unsuccessful) to provide a stream of revenue for the organization, provided personal encouragement to many members, launched a monthly study magazine Daibyaku Renge (大白蓮華?), and the newspaper Seikyo Shimbun, launched propagation efforts, and involved the active participation of youth including Daisaku Ikeda who was to become his right-hand man and successor.[26][27]
Brannen, a Christian missionary writing in 1969,[28] describes the Soka Gakkai's study program at this point as "the most amazing program of indoctrination Japan has ever seen." New members attended local study lectures, subscribed to weekly and monthly periodicals, studied Toda's commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, took annual study examinations, and were awarded titles for their achievements such as Associate Lecturer, Lecturer, Associate Teacher, or Teacher.[22]:142[29][30]:208 The main difference between the Gakkai examination system and that found in other areas of education is the object of the exercise is not the successful completion of an examination paper, but preparation for it by way of meetings in study discussion groups. "The tenor of the meetings is one of open discussion rather than didactic teaching…" Comments on Nichiren’s teachings are welcomed, "dictatorial edicts on moral behavior are not." [31] Writing in 1962, Brannen reports on one member who found it difficult to find advanced study material.[32]
"The Great Shakubuku March"
During his acceptance speech as second president in 1951, Toda placed a formidable challenge to the approximately 1500 congregated members: to convert 750,000 families before his death. He added: "If this goal is not realized while I am still alive, do not hold a funeral for me. Simply dump my remains in the bay at Shinagawa."[33]:285–286 In the ensuing period from 1951 to 1957, the organization doubled or tripled in size every year, published the first Nichiko Hori edition of Nichiren’s complete works, and fielded candidates in local political elections.[34][35] The organization’s rapid growth was widely publicized, as were controversial incidents provoked by the organization’s aggressive conversion efforts, described as "shakubuku," and its entrance into the political arena.
Toda adopted a method of proselytizing based on Nichiren teachings on shakubuku (折伏), often translated character for character as "break and subdue (attachments to) inferior teachings"[36] or else as "forced conversion";[37] At least one scholar, however, disputes the appellation of "forced," writing that "When Charlemagne told the Saxons to be baptized or die, that was forced conversion. Sokagakkai members are said to warn potential converts of dire consequences if they fail to join up, but they do not have the power of life or death."[38] Shakubuku, essentially, is the more assertive of two different methods of proselytizing traditionally employed by Nichiren adherents, in which the proselytizer directly confronts a non-adherent about the falsity of their beliefs.
The approach to propagation appealed strongly to segments of the population that had been marginalized or dislocated after the war.[39] The press covered many extreme incidents of propagation but did not cover the many examples of conversion accomplished through "moral suasion."[40]
Toda made both moderating and aggressive speeches about propagation. In a January 1954 speech Toda cautioned his followers to be sensible in their propagation efforts.[41] In October 1954, however, Toda made a speech to over 10,000 Gakkai members while mounted on a white horse, proclaiming: "We must consider all religions our enemies, and we must destroy them."[4][33]
The Sōka Gakkai first entered into politics in 1955.[42] According to Brannen, Toda's view was that following the teachings of Nichiren, the day was soon to come when the true teachings of the Gakkai would become the law of the State and when Sōka Gakkai became the ruling government, a "national altar" would be built at Mount Fuji.[32]
Toda's brand of shakubuku was of an unusually aggressive nature and would come to give Soka Gakkai a reputation of militancy and widespread criticism in the popular press and by other Buddhist sects.[5][11][43] A 1952 investigation by the Department of Justice resulted in a demand that Toda write a statement to the special investigations bureau that Soka Gakkai members would refrain from the illegal use of violence or threats in their proselytizing.[44]:217 A 1955 report, similar to others, described an incident in which an initially ambivalent woman relented only after members over several days warned of "some terrible calamity" if she did not join.[11]:104Threats of divine vengeance and bodily harm were frequent, and a child's illness or death could be attributed to not having already joined the Gakkai.[30]:199[45]:82 Local leadership would often destroy the household Shinto altars of new members.[4]
There are reports of isolated incidents of violence conducted by Soka Gakkai members but also directed toward them; they were sometimes chased away from the houses they surrounded.[33]:287[45]:49 The use of violence and intimidation as a part of the shakubuku campaign during The Great Propagation March has been dismissed by the Gakkai as "excessive zeal on the part of uneducated members," but evidence shows that much of it before 1967 was actually organized by its high-ranking leaders.[46]:74
Anne Mette Fisker-Nielsen has questioned whether forced activities alone could result in the continuous actions needed to sustain such a successful campaign.[47]Members attributed success to Toda's charisma and ability to inspire them personally.[48]
While shakubuku was a controversial practice, it was certainly successful: during Toda's presidency, the Gakkai's official ledgers count an increase from 3,000 households to the 750,000 that Toda had demanded at the outset of his presidency - thereby smoothly avoiding the need to meet Toda's request that his body should be dumped in Shinagawa bay.[33]:285–286 The accuracy of this figure was never confirmed by outside sources.[30]:199 Whether or not the 750,000 number was strictly true, the Gakkai's membership had certainly grown. Many of the new recruits had been found among the "downtrodden classes" in the larger urban areas who had sometimes been excluded from the benefits of the "upward swing" during the postwar reconstruction boom.[42]
Relationship with Nichiren Shoshu
The relationship with the parent organisation Nichiren Shōshū went through highs and lows during Toda's presidency.
One controversial event that occurred at the end of the first year of Toda's presidency was the "Tanuki (raccoon dog) festival incident." The festivities marked the 700th anniversary of Nichiren’s first proclamation of Nam(u)-Myoho-Renge-Kyo took place on April 28, 1952. A total of about 4,000 Gakkai members joined the occasion at Taiseki-ji, the Nichiren Shōshū head temple. Among them was a group of 47 men belonging to the Gakkai's youth division who confronted a priest named Jimon Ogasawara who had allegedly cooperated with the authorities during the war.[49] The group was led by President Toda and Daisaku Ikeda (who would eventually become the organization's third president). When Ogasawara initially refused to apologize, the men mobbed him, tore off his vestments and tagged him with a placard reading "raccoon dog monk".[50] He was forcibly carried to Makiguchi's grave, where he was made to sign a written apology.[51]:96–97[52]:698–711 Murata reports that Toda told him in an interview that he hit Ogasawara twice during the ordeal.[53]
Toda was temporarily banned from entering the temple.[51]:96–97[54] Though no legal action was taken, in a 1956 interview Toda reflected that this incident sparked extremely unfavorable press ooverage which painted the Soka Gakkai as a violent religion.[55][56] Japan Times[57]:705–711:705–711[source needs translation]
Despite this incident Nichiren Shoshu priests said they considered Toda the greatest among lay people and after his death they bestowed upon him the honorific name Chief of All Preachers of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Kōsō Kōtō)[58] During Toda's presidency the Soka Gakkai donated temples to Nichiren Shoshu including the Grand Lecture Hall, dedicated on March 1958.[59]
Death and Legacy
Toda died on April 2, 1958. The funeral was held at his home, but the coffin was afterwards carried past weeping, chanting crowds to the Ikebukuro temple Jozaiji, where he was buried.[22]:84 The then prime minister Nobusuke Kishi attended the funeral - something that scandalized "quite a few Japanese" but was a testament to how the Gakkai had grown to a force to be reckoned with under Toda.[51]:116[60]
Murata claims that for two years after Toda's death, there was a leadership vacuum and the Gakkai had no president, as it was unclear if anyone was able to replace him.[51]:118 Other scholars disagree, claiming Ikeda became the de facto leader of the Soka Gakkai right away. Three months after Toda's death Ikeda, at age 30, was appointed the organization's General Administrator, in 1959 he became the head of its board of directors, and, on May 3, 1960, its third president.[61][62]
It appears that some aspects of the aggressive approach to propagation continued after Toda's death. In eyewitness reports of a session in 1964, Gakkai members surrounded a home, yelled and made noise for hours until the residents relented and agreed to join.[45]:82