Hi everyone, I’m an English teacher and recently had a lesson with a 50-year-old Japanese man. The lesson was meant to be a free conversation about topics of the student's choosing. However, this student spent the entire time talking about "Dr. Ikeda," detailing his honorary degrees, meetings with world leaders, and his philosophy. The conversation felt quite cult-like, almost as if he was trying to recruit me or convince me in some way to read more into this figure. Can anyone provide more information about this individual and his organization/s? Are my initial impressions accurate, and is this a common experience in Japan with his followers? Thanks
by Fair_Meet_7779
8 comments
Yes, he was probably talking about [this person](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisaku_Ikeda).
That’s the leader of the Soka Gakkai cult. There are reports he died recently, but nobody heard anything from him for a long time before that. People in my family have personal experiences escaping from that cult so I don’t have a very high opinion of them.
Sōka Gakkai International.
In the past, when people still read newspapers on the train, I occasionally sat next to a person reading the Seikyō Shinbun, which is the official newspaper from the cult. I peeked at it and there was never an article that seemed to be talking about current matters in Japan or the world – only stuff that made sense in the context of the cult’s bubble (or so I guessed).
Be careful with this student, don’t accept any offers to join him or anything like that.
They’re a total cult, I recommend staying far away. I had a girlfriend who got locked in a hotel room by them and they wouldn’t let her leave until she converted. She said no and eventually around midnight they let her go, but she was traumatized by the experience.
Sokka Gakkai is a 20th century spinoff that was excommunicated from the Nichiren Buddhism movement, which itself is an extremely rigid and pretty intolerant religion that doesn’t accept other forms of Buddhism (or anything, for that matter), or even validate anything in the Buddhist canon outside the Lotus Sutra. The founder Nichiren had a total messiah complex and was exiled by authorities in his day. The core belief is that chanting the title of the Lotus Sutra (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) is the only possible path to salvation in the degenerate age we live in.
SGI is pretty big in Japan, they get involved with politics and entertainment figures like Scientology does. The New Komeito Party is their organization and has 30-odd seats in parliament. I think membership and finances have been falling off in recent decades though.
[DISCLAIMER: this is my personal experience, so not a general fact or claim!]
My wife and her family are all members of SGI but to be honest i’ve never felt threatened or forced into converting (i am christian and it’s never gonna change) because i’ve always been very clear with them and they understood it. The only thing that happened was that one time her grand father handed me a brochure, but i never thought nothing of it and threw it away. What bothered me the most was the numerous visitation from other members to our house (which i never answered) and their newspaper that arrived daily in our mailbox and that we kept as wrapping paper haha. Also, my wife doesn’t really care about it and we put religious conversations aside because we’re both not interested at all.
But yeah, there are definitely dangerous lunatics who will always pressure you join and harass you if you make the mistake to give them your personal infos. Just be very careful and be firm if that happens.
Soka Gakkai is a lay new religious movement that sprung from Nichiren Shoshu, one lineage within the wider Nichiren School of Buddhism. Soka Gakkai International is the worldwide umbrella organisation.
I have no experience of Soka Gakkai in Japan, but I was a member of SGI in Europe for about three years before leaving. As others have mentioned, SGI is a cult of personality (centred on Daisaku Ikeda, now deceased) with a penchant for aggressive proselytisation. Many ex members in the USA feel very strongly that it is an ‘out and out’ cult, involvement in which has left deep psychological scars. My experience was not as harrowing in Europe, I just felt incredibly bored listening to people ramble about an elderly Japanese man I’d never met. My view is that SGI attracts (and members often sought out) vulnerable recruits who pinned all their hopes and dreams on the organisation, which would usually end in disaster when they invested a lot of energy and their expectations were not met.
Members can be very pushy. My wife is Japanese and when her father died, “friends” in Soka Gakkai circled like sharks who smelled blood. Your impression is very accurate. I would reconsider keeping this client.
I also had this student before, was it NC?