The Emperor of Soka Gakkai,
Daisaku Ikeda and The Staff

The Faithful Retainers Who Surround Emperor Ikeda

No matter how ordinary and human Ikeda himself may be,
provided that he stays on top of such a huge organization and
 controls it, the authority commensurate to this position must be
constructed.  For this purpose he has been deified and through his
 prolific writings which are undistinguished--for instance "Human
 Revolution" and other many works, his stature has been inflated
and his prestige enhanced. It is true that much effort is expended
to induce the masses to read his works, but in a sense it might be
thought to be flie joint effort which serves the purpose of enhancing
Ikeda's prestige.  From the standpoint of the contents of his writings,
 they show no flashes of genius such as Hitler's "Mein Kampf", and
bear no comparison to the writings of Mao and others. It is not
exaggerating to say that this is eloquent testimony to the present
low level of intellect in Soka Gakkai.  Anyway, he spent days
and nights writing these books, and yet, on the other hand, there
 is a fantastic rumor to the effect that he gained a college diploma
by handing in theses, since be left school before graduating.
Ithink it is amusing that after becoming President of the powerful
Soka Gakkai, he wanted a Jr. College diploma. Apart from this, it
could not be denied that Ikeda's writings, regard less of their content,
have some academic influence on the membership of Soka Gakkai.
At any rate, they are nothing more than a production which serves
the purpose of deifying Ikeda. The Drum and Bugle Corps and the
Democratic Concert Association which he formed, in a similar sense,
 serve as musical productions designed to promote his superman~like
heroic image, and play heroic marches of praise to him.  In this
connection, whether Ikeda himself is a good natured and retiring man or not, he is
now playing the role of a "little" Emperor in Soka Gakkai.
The problem is that Japanese fascism once before used the Emperor
as a kind of "Omikoshi" (a portable shrine carried on the shoulders
of people during festivals.)  According to Professor Masao Maruyama,
 the Emperor was used as an "Omikoshi" under the beauracracy of the military for the
purpose of making a fascist regime, using the energy of outlaws.  From
 the fascist character, ideology, personnel structure, management system,
 and abnormal mentality, which we find in Soka Gakkai~Komeito, we
cannot avoid the conclusion that in postwar Japan, a form of fascism has
emergcd, which has as its "Omikoshi," President Ikeda.  But because this
 is "made in Japan", we do not have a hitler type or a Mussolini type, since
 in the soil of Japan only such leaders as the Emporer, that is, a leader
used by others as an "Omikoshi," can have that strange authority over
the masses.  In this sense, President Daisaku Ikeda's authority is enhanced
 all the more by the fact that this authority is separated from the masses
and lie shows no decisive leadership.
As happened under the Emperor system, regardless of his good intentions,
 the mechanism of fascism was set in motion, and Soka Gakkai is now also
 being moved by the same power.
The problem is what kind of people make up the group who carries
Emperor Ikeda and surround him, that is, who comprise the "elite"
corps of Soka Gakkai.  I~et's trace this a little further  The order
of rank in Soka Gakkai can be determined at a glance, by noticing
 the seating arrangement at their meetings, as is the case when the
leaders of Red China  and  President Mao  appear at  the  Gate  of
Heaven Square.
Once it was Koji Harashima, Chief Director who ranked next to
President Ikeda.  He was also the first Chairman of Komeito. After
his death from overv~~ork, without having been able to receive gorzyaku
(divine favor), the order of the seating arrangement during the first half of
1967 was as follows: President Ikeda; Chief Director, Hiroshi Hojo;
 Vice Chief Director, Satoru Izumi; former Chairman of Komeito,
Taketoshi Tsuji.  But in the same year a reorganization took place
and the Sornu system (Manager system) came into existence, and
Izumi became Chief Director, and Hojo became Chief General
Manager and the order of ranking was changed as follows: Ikeda,
 Izumi, Hojo, Tsuji.  That is, Izumi and Hojo exchanged places.
 Besides these are: Yoshikatsu Takeiri, Guchiro Shiraki, Yasu
Kashiwabara, Kazuya Morita, Joei Akiya,  Tetsuichi Yamada,
 Yoshihei Kodaira,  Kazuhiro Suzuki, Bunzo Ninomiya, Koshiro Ishida,
 Shygo Tada, Fujio Tashiro, Hidehiko Yaoi, Tatsuru Harada, Masayoshi
Miyazaki all of whom are General Managers (1968).
Among these, Takeiri and Ishida are members of the House of
Representatives, and the others are for the most part career
 members of the House of Councilors.
Some of these men are older than Ikeda.  They are: Tsuji, Izumi,
 Shiraki, Kashiwabara, and Takashi Koizumi, a member of the
Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. They are all immediate pupils of
 Tsunesaburo Makiguchi.  They are also senior to Ikeda and
should correctly be his advisors and remonstrators, as Hikozaemon
 Okubo (an advisor and remonstrator to the Tokugawa Shogun),
 but before Ikeda they are only Soka Gakkai common members
and their absolute allegiance and absolute obedience is required.
 Izumi, representing the older group, is Chief Director, and serves
 as the mediator
among of the older members and also as the leader of the group
who are senior to President Ikeda.  In this respect the special
Japanese seniority rule is applied.
The number two man in Soka Gakkai is Hiroshi Hojo. He is
 from a family of former peers, and studied at Gakushuin (formerly
 a school for the children of royalty and nobility only), where he
was a classmate of Yukio Mishima (a famous novelist. He g
raduated from the Naval Academy and it is well known that he was
a pilot of "Ginga" (Japanese famous battle plane) and was a naval
lieutenant at the end of the war.  In 1951 he became a member of
 Soka Gakkai due to the shakubuku efforts of an aunt, a former
viscountess.  Because the former peers went to ruin, the value~
system before the war collasped, and the military authority fell, he
 might have been in a spiritual vacuum. Therefore perhaps he was
easily influenced by shahubuku.  In this sense, it is impossible to
disregard that he has continuity with the prewar and postwar eras,
in spite of receiving shakubuku.  In short, he is a typical degenerate peer.
 He is also the Vice-Chairman of Komeito. He took the post of
Secretary~General of the party when it was organized and worked
 to build the foundations of the party. At that time he was not a member
 of the Diet, but in 1965 he was elected to the House of Councilors from
 the Tokyo constituency and is now a member of the Diet.
With the increase in number of the members elected to the Diet, the
 party emphasis shifted from the House of Councilors to the House
of Representatives.  The present Takeiri-Yano line has the complete
confidence of President Ikeda, and their successful leadership is a
good example of the principle of education expressed by Ikeda in the
words: "When I find good people, I do my best to polish them, this is
my firm resolution!" The main protector of the Yano-Takeiri line, is
Hiroshi Hojo, a man Ikeda relies on and one who has real power in
both Soka Gakkai and Komeito. He also is the Head of the First
Tokyo Joint Headquaters of Soka Gakkai, and a man with many titles.
 Roughly in the Hojo line, there are young leaders such as Shogo Tada.
Shogo Tada, became a member of the House of Councilors in 1965 at
the same time as Hojo did.  He is the head of the party's National
Defense Department, and on National Defense matters he is said to
be the leading man in their party.  He became a Soka Gakkai believer
during his student days in the technology department of Tohoku University,
and soon after graduation in 1954 joined the Seikyo Shimbun and worked
 for the newspaper for more than ten years. Due to his experience and ability,
he was given the position of chief of the Party Organ Bureau of Komeito.
It is said that during his time with the Seikyo Shimbun, he achieved a great
deal for the education program of Soka Gakkai.  While he was a sub-head
 in the Study Department, he worked on the publication of "Lectures Of
 Rissho Ankoku Ron" written by Daisa,ku Ikeda. He served as General
Head of the Theory Department, as Youth Division Councilor, and as the
 Head of Tokyo Eighth Joint Headquaters (of Soka Gakkai). It may be
said that he was an outstanding success in Soka Gakkai.
On the other hand, Ishida failed when he stood for election for the
 House of Councilors from Aichi Prefcture, but two years later in
1967 running as a candidate from the sixth constituency of Aichi
Prefecture for the House of Representatives, barely won a seat.
Though he got a late start in the political world, he is one of the
 most powerful men in Soka Gakkai-Komeito. At the present time,
since Komeito has transferred their emphasis from the House of
Councilors to the House of Representatives, his failure to win that
seat in the House of Councilors might have been a lucky break for
 him.Ishida also became a believer in Soka Gakkai during his
student days (Dept. of Commercial Sciences of Meiji University) in
1953.  He also entered the Seikyo Shimbun soon after his graduation
and followed much the same course as did Tada. In this sense, these
two may be said to be Soka Gakkai's favorite sons, who know no
other world than that of Soka Gakkai. Ishida is a rather mild mannered,
 businessman type in contrast to the more hot-blooded Tada. Perhaps
 for this reason he remains in the background since his entrance into the
 political world and seems satisfied to work for smoothing out the
 tensions in the party.  He has a thankless task. It is persistently rumored
 that he is, as a statesman, a man of rather weak-nerve. Nevertheless,
among the twenty-five members of the House of Representatives of
Komeito, those who have the title General Manager in Soka Gakkai
are Takeiri and Ishida only, and it seems that he has considerable
political power in Soka Gakkai. Besides, he is the head of the Komeito
members of the House of Representatives.
Hidehiko Yaoi, a member of the House of Councilors, is a young man
who is a General Manager of Soka Gakkai and a Chief in the Student
Bureau of Komeito. His course in Soka Gakkai is similar to the two
afore-mentioned.  He won a seat in the House of Councilors from the
 national constituency in 1965, when he was thirty-one.  He became
a believer in Soka Gakkai while a student at Osaka University.
Next, a brief profile on Satoru Izumi, a great figure in Soka Gakkai.
 Izumi stood for election for the House of Councilors from the Tokyo
 consititutency in 1962 and was elected.  In 1968 he did not run for
 re-election but resigned in favor of Kenichi Abe who failed in his
effort to win election as Governor of Tokyo.  He aslo desired to devote
 more some time to the administrative affairs of Soka Gakkai.
He was born in May, 1911 and is one of the doyens in Soka Gakkai.
He has that strong will for which the people of the Meiji era are noted,
and is known also for his trade mark, a large, shaven head.  In outside
 appearance he could pass for one of the "evil monks of Mt. Hiei."
(It is said that there were evil monks in Enryaku Temple of Mt. Hiei
about one thousand years ago.)  His extrovert personality is well suited
 to that of a manager of Soka Gakkai, and he seems to be very popular
with the leading staff, but from the standpoint of age, it would seem that
it is time for him to be replaced. This is especially true, since in the
present Soka Gakkai, young leaders are being appointed to the staff in
 large numbers, and it is a time when the quiet ripple of the change of
 teams is increasing, so he is sure to be first in line for retirement.
In 1968, the one hundredth anniversary of the Meiji era, President
 Ikeda very aptly spoke as follows:
"This is the year for the changing of the generations." So we may
 eventually expect this to take place.  After the elections for the
House of Councilors in 1968, Ikeda said: "The time for the change
of the generation has in fact arrived earlier than I thought it would.
The era of Meiji is far past, it is now the era of those who were born
 in the Showa and Taisho eras.  (Taisho era 1912~1926; Showa era
1926~). The leaders in business and organization are mostly men who
were born in the Meiji era and there is such a vast difference in ages
 that we have little in common.  I want to communicate with the people
 of the future, the men of the Showa and Taisho era.  At the present
time those who were born in the Showa era,  comprise seventy-two
percent of the population.  In business, stagnation has already set in.
This is surely the time to make the organization young  and fresh."
 (Shukan Gendai, August 22, 1968) These words may be very accurately
 applied to the inner circumstances of Soka Gakkai today, or we may
 interpret this expression as one which was made with Soka Gakkai in mind.
At any rate, it is certain that
a kind of change in the generations to conform more to Ikeda's age
group, is going to be made.