1964 (May 3): Ikeda abolished political subdivisions within Sōka Gakkai and declared that henceforth the group was to be a purely religious organization. Sōka Gakkai now claimed in excess of 3.8 million member households.
1964 (November 8): One hundred thousand Gakkai members participated in a Culture Festival ( bunkasai ) at National Stadium in Sendagaya, Tokyo. Sōka Gakkai staged numerous other massive Culture Festivals in subsequent years.
1964 (November 17): Ikeda announced the dissolution of Kōmei Seiji Renmei and the founding of the “Clean Government Party” (Kōmeitō).
First, I don't really see the flip-flop. President Ikeda announces that the political arm will be removed from within the Soka Gakkai and... six months later, this is fully realized when the old system and party is dissolved and a new party, Komeito, is founded which, while based on principles of humanistic Buddhism, is independent from the Soka Gakkai.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the flip flop is that there was a culture festival after President Ikeda said they would be purely religious, in which case why do you need to mention the political angle?
Also, thanks for the link. This is another website I haven't come across before, but following the link I learnt that on
"2011 (March): In the wake of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters that devastated northeastern Japan, Sōka Gakkai housed in excess of 5,000 refugees in Culture Centers across the region, gathered hundreds of millions of yen in emergency aid, and mobilized thousands of volunteers from across Japan to take part in both short- and long-term rescue and relief initiatives."
Together with your other post http://markrogow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/how-do-japanese-non-members-view-soka.html you seem to be highlighting that despite the fact Japanese know nothing about the Soka Gakkai, they actually seem to be actively involved in pan-Asian affairs (see the other post) as well as supporting humanitarian relief efforts through the use of thousands of volunteers, millions of dollars in aid and providing refugees with somewhere to stay in their culture centers in the aftermath of the Tsunami.
Also if this is the kind of activity the Soka Gakkai is involved in, then I'm glad they have flip-flopped and haven't remained a purely religious organization.
http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-truth-and-only-truth-about-nichiren.html?showComment=1404027766225#c771628904837696119
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