Daisaku Ikeda, beloved and controversial leader of the Japanese Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai, has died

2023-11-18 15:55:18
Daisaku Ikeda, honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, during an interview in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, June 30, 2001. KENTARO AOYAMA /THE YOMIURI SHI

Daisaku Ikeda, the charismatic – and controversial – leader of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist sect, which he made into an international organization and a major political player in Japan, has died at his home in Tokyo. THE “peacemaker, Buddhist philosopher, educator, author and poet”, as presented son site, would have died Wednesday November 15 of old age. He was 95 years old. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida praised a personality who “played an important role in promoting peace, culture and education in Japan and abroad, and left a significant mark in history”.

The announcement of the death was made by Soka Gakkai on Saturday November 18, the anniversary of the creation, in 1930, by Buddhists of the Nichiren branch, itself created in the 13th century by the eponymous monk (1222-1282).

Born in Tokyo in 1928 into a family of algae farmers, Mr. Ikeda experienced an adolescence marked by the Second World War, the mobilization of his brothers and the long illness of his father which forced him to work from an early age. 14 years in a munitions factory of the Niigata Steel group. In the chaos of the post-war period, he adhered to Buddhism after meeting Josei Toda (1900-1958), who was imprisoned during the conflict for his pacifist beliefs and would be the second leader of the Soka Gakkai.

Orlando Bloom or Roberto Baggio

Daisaku Ikeda became the third president of the Soka Gakkai in 1960. Advocating a “humanism inspired by Buddhism”he defends the idea that lasting peace and individual happiness require a transformation of each person’s life, and not only through societal reforms.. The social dimension of the sect then attracted many people of modest means. Soka Gakkai today claims more than 8 million members in Japan, and some 12 million worldwide.

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The reign of Daisaku Ikeda and the power acquired by the movement, which he endowed with a university and a headquarters in the heart of Tokyo, allowed him to meet many world leaders and to play a significant role in Japanese politics. At the United Nations, he repeatedly called for the abandonment of nuclear weapons. He visited the USSR and China in the 1970s, meeting American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Later, he spoke with Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) and Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022). Soka Gakkai has attracted stars such as actor Orlando Bloom, singer Tina Turner and Italian football player Roberto Baggio.

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