"It was in 1970, remember, that Komeito was forced to shut down, strip off all the Nichiren doctrine and verbiage, and then allowed to re-enter the political arena as purely political party New Komeito (instead of Soka Gakkai's religious political party), after public outcry over how Komeito was mixing religion and politics. Some sources trace the end of Komeito's growth to this change.
Here is a summary of one of the main books the Soka Gakkai was trying to use its newly won Komeito political power to lean on the publishers to prevent its publication:
Fujiwara, Hirotatsu. I Denounce Soka Gakkai. Translated by Worth C. Grant. Tokyo: Nisshin Hodo, 1970.Intensely critical of every aspect of the Soka Gakkai, suggesting that its political involvement would bring a return of prewar fascism.Allegations of attempts by Soka Gakkai–supported politicians to suppress publication sparked intense controversy, leading in 1970 to the official organizational separation of the Komei political party from the Soka Gakkai. Source
Sounds like an insightful author, actually, especially given what we've seen since then, both from inside AND from this side of the pond. Of COURSE it would have brought a return of prewar fascism - that was the explicitly stated plan! "Obutsu myogo", meaning "Nichiren theocracy", would have made Nichiren Shoshu the state religion and required all the other religions to shut down. Ikeda was a fan of fascism - he even commented that he greatly admired fascism. I guess it's fine when you picture yourself in charge." -- BlancheFromage
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