What Is The Soka Gakkai Style
of Politics?

The Pace of Soka Gakkai Politics

We might call the aforementioned tactics, "Soka Gakkai Politics" or "Soka Gakkai Styled Politics."  Recalling examples from history, I must say that the Soka Gakkai style of politics remarkably resembles Nazism.  But ideology-wise, being grounded in the theory of Nichiren Shoshu, we may say it has a Japanese copyright, since as a political theory it originated in Japan, or we may say it is a new patent of politicalism in Japan.  Soka Gakkai politics, or Soka Gakkai "Politicalism", had its beginning on November 27th, 1961 at the organization of the Komei Seiji Renmei (the Clean Government League)  But even before this, in November of 1954, with the organization of the Culture Department in the headquarters of Soka Gakkai, they had made plans to go in for politics.  Also the next year, 1955, in the Tokyo Metropolitan and Yokohama  Municipal Assemblies. elections 51 candidates won seats for the first time. The year of 1955 was significant politically since it was the year that the Socialist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's two largest parties, were formed,~the Socialist Party in October and the Liberal Democratic Party in November.  The next year, 1956, was the year of the Sunagawa Military Base Incident, and the year that Japan took her seat in the United Nations. This was a very active time politically. During this tumultous period Soka Gakkai's candidates made their political
debut in both the Local and Upper House elections, but their actual entrance into politics dates from the organization of the Komei Seiji Renmei.  The number of Soka Gakkai office holders at that, time according to the Progress of Komeito" published by the Komeito Bulletin Bureau, were:
House of Councillors, nine; Metropolitan and Prefectural Assemblymen, seven; City and Ward Assemblymen, 268.
Up to this time, Soka Gakkai's Political Department was emphasizing, "clean elections", "cleaning up politics", etc. They seemed to be trying to operate from a religious point of view to clean-up the corruption in politics, and to purify the political world as observers and critics.  They emphasized repeatedly in every election campaign:  "Our purpose in running candidates for the House of Councillors and the Local Assembly is only to criticize severely and to purify politics-we have no desire to seek political power."  Up to this time, even though it was the advance of a religion into politics, when they entered the National and Local elections, most people thought they were actually trying to purify politics from the standpoint of the true function of religion, so this advance was received with a fair amount of good will.
But before long, that typically Soka Gakkai, opportunistic, "changing~with-the-tide", chameleon- like character came out and the party line began to shift suddenly.  Having succeeded in the elections by placing their representatives in the political world on the basis of slogans such as, "Realization of Public Welfare" on the order of the Democratic Socialist Party, they orientated their course to the realization of a society in which "Personal Happiness Goes With Social Prosperity" and both the laboring class and the capitalists would prosper. Thus their religious-like political slogans, such as we have already mentioned:  "Buddhism Democray", "Realization of Public Welfare", "Global Nationalism" and the like, were hammered out as the party line.
Of course, though such political slogans are derived from, and supported by, Soka Gakkai's own peculiar doctrines concerning public welfare, they are a pot-pourri of far fetched, temporary theories, aimed to please everybody. Such are the political wares peddled by Soka Gakkai.
The public welfare program advocated by Komeito is the same as those advocated in Europe at the beginning of this century in the advanced capitalistic countries, by both Conservatives and Progressives, and is the public welfare policy which some parties execute there today. A public welfare policy which aligns itself with anti~communists, and social reformists, and has modified capitalistic tendencies, if we apply this to Japan, would be a party somewhere to the left of the Liberal Democratic Party or the Democratic Socialst Party. Komeito often borrows freely and unethically from the political platforms of other parties. Therefore, once a member of the Congress of Democratic Socialism was prompted to protest:  "Isn't it impertinent of Komeito to plagiarize our platform just as we had announced it and to make use of it without our authorization?"
This criticism was hushed up.  Komeito conveniently assigned the whole matter to oblivion.  This sort of shamelessness is typical of Komeito.  Having no platform of their own, they have no qualms whatever about plagiarizing the platforms of other parties and when they announce a platform this becomes quite evident.  This is an example of limitless embracing.  If there is no other way for them to obtain a platform except by borrowing from the other parties, good etiquette demands that they at least make it clear that they have done this.
But for such an omnipotent religion as NichiTen Shosliu to have to resort to borrowing from others would be a mostinconvenient predicament, so they just help themselves without asking permission. From this point of view, plagiarism--for there is no other name for it-is a shameless impudence most evident in their political platforms.
Since they put such a high premium on their mass media image and the opinions of the public, it is no exaggeration to say that they must live in a state of constant nervous tension for fear of being put into some disadvantageous and embarrassing position.
Without real ability or originality in politics, Komeito has a tendency to show off their power like a brash young up start. This, in essence, is Soka Gakkai's politcal style, and I must say it is rather wierd.