Daisaku Ikeda, Honorary President of the Soka Gakkai, passed away at the age of 95. He was committed to China-Japan relations and founded the Komeito Party to form an alliance with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

[Yahoo News Report]The Japanese Buddhist organization “Soka Gakkai” said on Saturday (18th) that Daisaku Ikeda, honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, passed away in Tokyo on Wednesday (15th) at the age of 95. Daisaku Ikeda served as the third-generation president of the Soka Gakkai in 1960 and founded the Komeito Party in 1964, which currently forms a ruling alliance with the Liberal Democratic Party. Ikeda resigned as president in 1979 and served as honorary president. Ikeda has also continued to promote exchanges between Japan and China in the past. In 1974, he met with then Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping. Former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and former President Hu Jintao also met with Ikeda during their visits to Japan in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his deep condolences on the death of Daisaku Ikeda on the social networking site Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said he was deeply saddened and shocked by the news of Ikeda’s death and thanked him for his continued support of the Komeito party. China’s official media “Xinhua News Agency” also reported that Ikeda is “friendly to China” and has led delegations to visit China many times after the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

Komeito becomes a “key minority” in Japanese politics

Daisaku Ikeda was born in Tokyo in 1928 and joined the Soka Gakkai in 1947. After the second generation president Josei Toda passed away in 1958, Ikeda took over as president two years later at the age of 32. In 1961, Ikeda founded the Komeito Political Alliance, and he founded the Komeito Party three years later. However, in order to adhere to the principle of “separation of church and state,” Soka Gakkai and the Komeito Party have maintained a certain distance since the 1970s. However, the outside world still believes that Soka Gakkai The Institute is the main supporter of the Komeito Party. The current proportion of seats held by the Komeito Party in Japan’s House of Representatives and Senate is 7% and 11% respectively.

Be the first to advocate the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and China

Daisaku Ikeda experienced World War II in his childhood, and his eldest brother was also killed in the battle, which made him deeply aware of the cruelty of war. After taking office as president, Ikeda promoted the peace movement and called on all countries to abolish nuclear weapons for many years. In 1968, during the Cultural Revolution in China, he issued the “Initiative for the Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and China”, advocating that Japan formally recognize the government of the People’s Republic of China and obtain approval from the United Nations. Legal seats, the two countries finally established diplomatic relations in 1972. As for Soka University, founded by Ikeda in 1971, it was also the first institution in Japan to accept publicly funded international students from mainland China. Ikeda is also active in international exchanges and has visited 54 countries and regions, including 20 visits to Hong Kong. Leaders and cultural figures who have spoken with him include former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Gorbachev, writer Jin Yong, and founder of Panasonic Electric Appliances. Matsushita Konosuke et al.

Due to his advanced age and other reasons, Ikeda has rarely appeared in public in recent years. A statement issued by the association stated that Daisaku Ikeda died at his apartment in Shinjuku District, Tokyo due to old age; a funeral attended only by close relatives was held on Friday (17th), and the body was cremated on Saturday morning. The association will make arrangements for members later Farewell ceremony. Ikeda and his wife have three sons. The eldest son, Hiromasa Ikeda, is now the director and vice-president of the Soka Gakkai; the youngest son, Takahiro Ikeda, is now the vice-president of the “Soka Gakuen”, a junior high school and high school in Japan; the second son, Johisa Ikeda, was born in 1984. Died due to health problems.

As a Buddhist organization, the Soka Gakkai uses the Lotus Sutra of Sakyamuni and the classics of Nichiren, a monk from the Kamakura shogunate period, as its doctrinal basis. It is the largest religious organization in Japan and is believed by 8.27 million households in the country. ; As for the “Soka Gakkai International” founded by Daisaku Ikeda in 1975, it has 2.8 million members in 192 countries or regions around the world. In the Soka Gakkai Chapter, Ikeda is listed as “eternal master” along with the first president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and the second president Josei Toda. The news of Daisaku Ikeda’s death was announced on the same day as the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Soka Gakkai.

source:Reuters / Xinhua News Agency / Japan Broadcasting Association / Ming Pao