A LIFE DEVOTED TO EDUCATION, CULTURE AND PEACE
On October 7, 2006, Beijing Normal University awarded an
Honorary Professorship to the Buddhist humanist philosopher and
educator, Daisaku Ikeda. It was the 200th such academic honor that
he had received - more than any other person in history. What was
the background for this unique achievement?
Daisaku Ikeda was born in Tokyo in 1928, the fifth son in a family
that made its living by harvesting and processing edible seaweed.
At that time, Japan had a militaristic government that initiated a
war against China. Daisaku Ikeda's older brothers were called up
for military service, and because of his father's poor health, he
was left as the sole support for his family. Besides harvesting and
processing seaweed, he also started a newspaper route, but the
strain was too much, and he contracted tuberculosis. News of the
death of his oldest brother made him decide to devote his life to
the cause of peace.
After the end of the war, despite his poor health, Daisaku Ikeda
began studying at a night school. He worked during the day, and
studied at night, and in this way completed his high-school
education. He then enrolled in a junior college.
In August, 1947, Ikeda met Josei Toda, the leader of a Buddhist
educational organization called Soka Gakkai (a Japanese expression
meaning ``Value-Creating Education"). Soka Gakki had been founded
in 1930 by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda. When the war came,
both of the founders of Saka Gakkai were imprisoned for their
pacifist beliefs and their defense of religious freedom. Makkiguchi
died in prison, but Toda survived. After the war, while running a
publishing business, Toda also worked to reconstruct the Soka
Gakkai organization.
Daisaku Ikeda took a job in Josei Toda's publishing firm, and
worked extremely hard to overcome the financial difficulties that
the firm was encountering in the unstable financial climate of
postwar Japan. He also became very active in Soka Gakkai's
educational activities. Meanwhile he received personal instruction
from Toda in politics, economics, philosophy and literature.
In 1957, Josei Toda issued a call for the abolition of all nuclear
weapons. The abolition of nuclear weapons and the establishment of
global peace and cooperation became central goals of Soka Gakkai's
educational policies.
In 1958, after Josei Toda's death, Daisaku Ikeda became the leader
of Soka Gakkai. Under his leadership, the organization grew. Today,
Soka Gakkai International, of which Daisaku Ikeda is the President,
has 12 million members throughout the world. In addition to leading
this very large educational organization, Daisaku Ikeda became a
prolific author of books on humanist and pacifist philosophy as
well as books of poetry and photography. A total of 298 editions of
his books have now been published, in 30 languages.
A particular specialty of Dr. Ikeda's literary works are dialogs
with world leaders. He strongly believes in dialog as a means of
working for peace. Among the leaders and academics with whom he has
published dialogs are Arnold Toynbee, Aurelio Peccei, Johan
Galtung, Linus Pauling, Sir Joseph
Rotblat and Mikhail Gorbachev.
Finally, Dr. Ikeda has founded educational and cultural
institutions throughout the world. These include the Soka
University in Tokyo, the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy
Research, the Institute for the Natural Environment in Sao Paolo,
the Soka University of America, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the
Institute of Oriental Philosophy, the Boston Research Center for
the 21st Century, and many others. An extraordinary life in the
service of education, culture and peace!