<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This article discusses an episode in the history of Sōka Gakkai that began as alternative youth movement under Ikeda Daisaku who came to advocate “people’s diplomacy” (minkan gaikō) as a way to foster goodwill between China and Japan. Why would Sōka Gakkai, a legally constituted “religious corporation” (shūkyō hōjin) be so serious about engaging with a Communist regime that did not recognise religion? The article discusses what “religion” or “religious behaviour” means in Sōka Gakkai, and questions the usefulness of such a classification on a qualitative level. Ikeda’s interpretation of Nichiren Buddhism highlights his approach to something seemingly very “unreligious”—namely, the normalisation of Sino-Japanese relations. Unlike the more traditional “reactive revolution” of protest movements that constructed politics as primarily a binary, ideological choice to achieve its aims, Ikeda prioritised finding ways to transcend that very ideology-centric, counter-politics approach. By appealing to conviviality, a sense of shared humanity and humility on the part of the Japanese towards their past history of colonialism, a new social imaginary and attitude that differed from politics of opposition between left and right entered as a historical force that continues to be promoted by Sōka Gakkai today.</p>
</abstract>

This article discusses an episode in the history of Sōka Gakkai that began as alternative youth movement under Ikeda Daisaku who came to advocate “people’s diplomacy” (minkan gaikō) as a way to foster goodwill between China and Japan. Why would Sōka Gakkai, a legally constituted “religious corporation” (shūkyō hōjin) be so serious about engaging with a Communist regime that did not recognise religion? The article discusses what “religion” or “religious behaviour” means in Sōka Gakkai, and questions the usefulness of such a classification on a qualitative level. Ikeda’s interpretation of Nichiren Buddhism highlights his approach to something seemingly very “unreligious”—namely, the normalisation of Sino-Japanese relations. Unlike the more traditional “reactive revolution” of protest movements that constructed politics as primarily a binary, ideological choice to achieve its aims, Ikeda prioritised finding ways to transcend that very ideology-centric, counter-politics approach. By appealing to conviviality, a sense of shared humanity and humility on the part of the Japanese towards their past history of colonialism, a new social imaginary and attitude that differed from politics of opposition between left and right entered as a historical force that continues to be promoted by Sōka Gakkai today.

The Sōka Gakkai 1968 Youth Movement: The Creation of Conviviality and Friendship in Sino-Japanese Relations

Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This article discusses an episode in the history of Sōka Gakkai that began as alternative youth movement under Ikeda Daisaku who came to advocate “people’s...

The Sōka Gakkai 1968 Youth Movement: The Creation of Conviviality and Friendship in Sino-Japanese Relations

Published Online: Aug 13, 2021

Page range: 210 - 256

Received: Aug 04, 2020

Accepted: Sep 29, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/vjeas-2021-0007

Keywords
religion and politics, Daisaku Ikeda, Sōka Gakkai, Kōmeitō, Sino-Japanese relations and civil society, friendship and conviviality as politics

© 2021 Anne Mette Fisker-Nielsen, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The Sōka Gakkai 1968 Youth Movement: The Creation of Conviviality and Friendship in Sino-Japanese Relations

Published Online: Aug 13, 2021

Page range: 210 - 256

Received: Aug 04, 2020

Accepted: Sep 29, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/vjeas-2021-0007

Keywordsreligion and politics, Daisaku Ikeda, Sōka Gakkai, Kōmeitō, Sino-Japanese relations and civil society, friendship and conviviality as politics

© 2021 Anne Mette Fisker-Nielsen, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
religion and politics, Daisaku Ikeda, Sōka Gakkai, Kōmeitō, Sino-Japanese relations and civil society, friendship and conviviality as politics