Daisaku Ikeda

He is, by some accounts, the most powerful man in Japan--and certainly one of the most enigmatic: Daisaku Ikeda, leader of the nation's largest religious organization, has been condemned and praised as a devil and an angel, a Hitler and a Gandhi, a despot and a democrat. He is a grasping power-monger aiming for political control by rallying the 8 million families of the Soka Gakkai lay Buddhist organization, critics say.

He is, by some accounts, the most powerful man in Japan--and certainly one of the most enigmatic: Daisaku Ikeda, leader of the nation's largest religious organization, has been condemned and praised as a devil and an angel, a Hitler and a Gandhi, a despot and a democrat. He is a grasping power-monger aiming for political control by rallying the 8 million families of the Soka Gakkai lay Buddhist organization, critics say.

Your Nov. 25 edition included two pro-Soka letters, which contain phrases such as "wave of emotional medieval darkness," "witch hunt" and "fear smear." There were remarks that referred to religion, education, world peace and some related political attention that Daisaku Ikeda, the absolute ruler of the Soka group worldwide, had managed to attract. The foregoing is a calculated attempt to cloud the real issue involved in our organization's opposition to Soka's proposed commercial development, the misuse of the property at Las Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway.

In the foothills of Mt. Fuji, just lightly dusted with snow this time of year, are the sprawling grounds of Taisekiji, the ancient temple headquarters of the Buddhist order of Nichiren Shoshu. It's a startling sight. Attached like a misplaced appendage to the 700-year-old temple compound of prayer halls, pagoda and inner gardens is a stadium-sized, white granite structure shaped like a slice of melon.

At first glance, the alphabet soup of acronyms and names may appear to be a series of unrelated groups: Soka Gakkai International, Soka University, NSA, NSC, SUA and SGI-USA. But tax and land transaction documents filed in the United States and Canada, plus interviews and information supplied by the organizations themselves, indicate that all are closely linked.

In the foothills of Mt. Fuji, just lightly dusted with snow this time of year, are the sprawling grounds of Taisekiji, the ancient temple headquarters of the Buddhist order of Nichiren Shoshu. It's a startling sight. Attached like a misplaced appendage to the 700-year-old temple compound of prayer halls, pagoda and inner gardens is a stadium-sized, white granite structure shaped like a slice of melon.

A Japanese Buddhist sect's plan to build a large institution in a verdant meadow has touched off a community war. The organization is so determined that it paid above-market prices for the site and hired top lobbyists to secure government approvals. Yet a group of neighbors and public officials is equally dedicated to blocking the project.

Lying in the hospital after a gallbladder operation in January, Toshio Ohashi, an eight-term member of Japan's lower house of Parliament, experienced a religious conversion of sorts--in reverse. His illness, he decided, was divine punishment for the many years he suppressed a growing urge to denounce the Buddhist godfather who had made his political career possible. Ohashi, 62, stunned his colleagues in Komeito, or Clean Government Party, by becoming a heretic.

Officials of a Japanese university planning to open an American campus in Calabasas later this year said Thursday that they will hold an open house Sunday for their new neighbors. About 100 families living in the rural area near the 230-acre Soka University campus at 26800 W. Mulholland Highway have been invited to the 11 a.m. event, said Yoshiaki Takada, spokesman for the Tokyo-based school. Soka University purchased the site last July from the Church Universal and Triumphant for $15.5 million.

Your articles about the controversy between the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) laypersons organization and the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood (Dec. 16) raise questions about the future of the SGI. The view from the inside, however, is one of confidence and optimism. In response to the priests' Nov. 28 order excommunicating the SGI, the lay organization has circulated a petition asking for the high priest to resign. That petition now contains 16 million signatures. The SGI has a worldwide membership of about 12 million, which is approximately 99% of all Nichiren Shoshu believers.

Your Nov. 25 edition included two pro-Soka letters, which contain phrases such as "wave of emotional medieval darkness," "witch hunt" and "fear smear." There were remarks that referred to religion, education, world peace and some related political attention that Daisaku Ikeda, the absolute ruler of the Soka group worldwide, had managed to attract. The foregoing is a calculated attempt to cloud the real issue involved in our organization's opposition to Soka's proposed commercial development, the misuse of the property at Las Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway.

At first glance, the alphabet soup of acronyms and names may appear to be a series of unrelated groups: Soka Gakkai International, Soka University, NSA, NSC, SUA and SGI-USA. But tax and land transaction documents filed in the United States and Canada, plus interviews and information supplied by the organizations themselves, indicate that all are closely linked.

A Japanese Buddhist sect's plan to build a large institution in a verdant meadow has touched off a community war. The organization is so determined that it paid above-market prices for the site and hired top lobbyists to secure government approvals. Yet a group of neighbors and public officials is equally dedicated to blocking the project.

Lying in the hospital after a gallbladder operation in January, Toshio Ohashi, an eight-term member of Japan's lower house of Parliament, experienced a religious conversion of sorts--in reverse. His illness, he decided, was divine punishment for the many years he suppressed a growing urge to denounce the Buddhist godfather who had made his political career possible. Ohashi, 62, stunned his colleagues in Komeito, or Clean Government Party, by becoming a heretic.

I take exception to staff writer Amy Pyles' continued, seemingly automatic labeling of Nichiren Shoshu of America (NSA) as a cult, as she has done in at least four separate articles dating back to last September. The NSA organization of lay believers is a member of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), which comprises some 12 million lay persons who practice Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism in 115 countries. SGI's Japanese organization, the Soka Gakkai, is the largest religious organization in Japan.