Soka Gakkai members are Daisaku Ikeda's ATM

The Weekly Post - Jan. 11 - Jan. 17, 1996

Japan-Heaven for a Religious Group But Danger for Country's Politics

Moved by an enormous amount of concern of Japanese people about a series of horrifying murders committed by a Japanese extremist cult sect, Aum Shinrikyo, last year, Japanese politicians have been fiercely arguing the issue of religious groups for new legislation.

However, their argument is not about the issue of Aum sect, but the involvement of religious groups in politics. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which governed Japanese politics for almost four decades until their defeat in the 1993 election, took full advantage of increasing outrage of Japanese public toward Aum. They wasted no time in shifting the nation's attention to attack Sokagakkai which is the most powerful religious organization in Japan and possesses a significant amount of influence over Japanese politics.

Sokagakkai was established in 1930 and in 1960, when Mr. Daisaku Ikeda became the leader, Sokagakkai expanded its size of followers very rapidly and evolved quickly to the largest religious organization in Japan.

Sokagakkai has its own representative political party called the Clean Government Party (CGP) which has become one of the most important components of the New Frontier Party (NFP), the largest powerful opposition party against the ruling coalition including LDP.

The New Frontier Party is headed by Ichiro Ozawa, a most convincing rival of the Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of LDP, and the political power game between two parties has accelerated the stormy argument over the issue of religious groups in Japan.

The Sokagakkai has about 12 million followers in Japan as well as abroad, and their voting is significantly important in Japanese elections. Sokagakkai's Clean Government Party accounts for 52 members in the total number of 170 of the New Frontier Party in the Lower House which has decision power over the Upper House.

A money machine for collecting big cash

The Sokagakkai's power is important also in money. It is estimated that Sokagakkai's total revenue reached $2 billion in 1995-less than those of normal years which recorded $2.5 to $3 billion. The largest chunk of their $2 billion came from the collection of annual dues of their followers.

At 12:00 a.m. on the New Year's Day, Sokaggakai starts their ceremonies at their temples across the country to celebrate the new year. During their three days ceremony, about 3.5 million followers come to these ceremonies and make financial contribution at the entrance of their "temples" where they find an envelope to enclose their donation. On an average, they contribute $50 each, which means about $150 million in total. It is a money machine for collecting big cash.

No receipts are issued to these contributors. It may create opportunities for some local officers to embezzle these funds and for the Headquarters to use these monies for purposes which cannot be made public. No government authority checks for what purposes these monies are spent. No one, other than high ranking leaders of the organization, knows where the money goes.

Segregation between religion and politics

It is a well-known fact, in various forms and ways, Sokagakkai spends money directly or indirectly for their political purposes. The Japanese constitution dictates the segregation between religion and politics and does not allow any religious groups to practice their authoritative power over politics. Also, Japanese tax laws which were structured under the U.S. guidance, prohibit religious groups' movements for organizing political groups, legislative activities, election campaigns and even using their facilities for political activities.

Of course, there are polemics in interpreting the constitution among politicians. They interpret it in favor of their own political convenience. Even in LDP, there are some politicians who want to restore their friendly ties with Sokagakkai. Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone is one of them.

It is more obvious than ever that Sokagakkai's no tax status privilege for a non-profit religious organization must be in serious question. Considering their handling of finance and the accounting book as well as their degree of involvement in national politics, if Sokagakkai were in the U.S.. they would have lost, a long time ago, all the privileges given to a non-profit religious group. -Atsushi Mizoguchi