Daisaku Ikeda

Daisaku Ikeda 池田大作 いけだ だいさく (Ikeda Daisaku, January 2, 1928-) is president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist association which claims 12 million members in 192 countries and territories, and founder of several educational, cultural and research institutions. He is also an honorary member of the Club of Rome. (members)

Life and establishment of SGI

Daisaku Ikeda was born of seaweed farmers at Ōta, Tokyo. He was the fifth son. He had four elder brothers who fought in World War II and also had two younger brothers , and a sister. As a child, he suffered from poor health and later tuberculosis, and doctors predicted that he wouldn't survive beyond the age of 30. Ikeda's family endured the hardships of the war, as many did. In his youth, he lost his eldest brother Kiichi Ikeda (1916–1945) to World War II, which developed in him a strong opposition to war. In his late teens, in August 1947, he learned of Nichiren Buddhism through Josei Toda, a Nichiren Buddhist, educator and peace activist, and then president of the Soka Gakkai. In 1948, he quit night school, in order to help and work for his mentor, Josei Toda's publishing business. In return for this, Mr. Toda taught Ikeda literature, history, chemistry, physics, political science, economics, law, mathematics, and Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhist philosophy. In his writings, Dr.Ikeda, talks about these years from 1948 till Mr.Toda's death in 1958 as Golden Years and says that in those days he attended Toda University. As a disciple of Toda, Ikeda took on Toda's dream and mission to spread the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism and its principles of developing a peaceful world through the spread of the True Teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Following Toda's death in 1958, Ikeda became president of the Soka Gakkai, currently serving since 1960.

From its beginnings in the 1930s, the Soka Gakkai was a lay organization whose role was to support the laity in their practice of Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism. After World War II, as Nichiren Buddhism began to spread throughout the world, Soka Gakkai responded by developing an international outreach program, the SGI (Soka Gakkai International). Ikeda took a lead role in this development and became president of SGI upon its founding in 1975. In 1979, Ikeda was forced to resign as president of Soka Gakkai to take responsibility of Soka Gakkai's deviation from Nichiren doctrines and the accompanying conflict with the priesthood and was succeeded by Hiroshi Hojo. He was excommunicated by Nichiren Shoshu on August 11, 1992. Even so, he remained president of SGI, and the position of Soka Gakkai Honorary President, which he still maintains, was created for him.

As of April 2008, he had received 252 honorary doctorates. He has used the principles of Nichiren Buddhism throughout his own life, and in his role as president of SGI, he acts to support the membership in a number of ways, including providing support and encouragement through his writings and lectures, by striving to promote a dialogue on Nichiren Buddhist principles as they apply to today's global challenges with many of today's world leaders. As such, the SGI membership views him as a great role model for how to apply this practice in their own lives. He is referred to by some members as their "mentor in life" (jinsei no shishō, 人生の師匠), and is frequently referred to in the third person as sensei (先生, "our teacher" or "master").

Nichiren Buddhism is a form of Buddhism based on the final teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, in what is called the Lotus Sutra. The basic premise of this teaching is that Buddhahood and enlightenment are states of being that are as innate to each and every human being, as are the more commonly experienced states of, say, anger, hunger (as in greed, thirst, or insatiable desire), or tranquility (as in calm, complacent, or satisfied). According to the Lotus Sutra, not only are all living beings equally endowed with the potential for enlightenment, but so are they potentially capable of attaining this state, within the current lifetime. According to Nichiren Buddhists' interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, one may awaken one's Buddha Nature through a practice of chanting the phrase Nam myoho renge kyo to develop one's sense of compassion, wisdom, and clarity of mind, and through the development of a sense of the interconnectedness of all life—the "oneness of life and environment," or esho funi—and the ways in which one's thoughts, actions, and deeds—karma—affect one and one's environment throughout the past, present, and future.

Ikeda and his predecessors in Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, and the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, a 13th-century priest called Nichiren Daishonin, all strove to live according to these and other Buddhist principles and to encourage others to do the same. Through the study of their teachings, the practice of chanting, and the practice of active involvement in the world at large, one is thought to be able to develop the innate Buddha Nature within, leading to a happier, more fulfilling life for oneself and others. Daisaku Ikeda has had dialogues with many people including Arnold J. Toynbee, Linus Pauling, Wangari Maathai, Marianne Pearl, M.S.Swaminathan, Roberto Baggio, Coretta Scott King, Joseph Rotblat, John Kenneth Galbraith, David Norton, Betty Williams (nobel laureate), Ba Jin, and Rosa Parks.

Though not a statesman or politician himself, followers (as well as some Japanese, Chinese, and Russian politicians and statesmen) credit him with having strengthened the relations of Japan with China and Russia by discussions with their leaders with Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Mikhail Gorbachev and Alexei Kosygin. He has also met various world leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Henry Kissinger, Prince Hitachi, Rajiv Gandhi, Lech Wałęsa, Raúl Alfonsín, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Kurt Waldheim, Eisaku Sato, Takeo Fukuda, Mohamed ElBaradei, James D. Hodgson, Edward Kennedy, Boutros Boutros Ghali, Kofi Annan, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Prince Charles, Margaret Thatcher and Jacques Chirac.

He lives in Tokyo with his wife, Kaneko Ikeda (1932-), whom he married on May 3, 1952. He had three sons, Hiromasa Ikeda (1953-), Shirohisa Ikeda (1955–1984), and Takahiro Ikeda (1958-).

The British journalist and political commentator Polly Toynbee was invited to meet Ikeda in 1984, as Ikeda "was hoping to tighten the public connection between himself and Polly Toynbee's famous grandfather, Arnold Toynbee, the prophet of the rise of the East." Toynbee described him as "a short, round man with slicked down hair, wearing a sharp Western suit"; they talked from "throne-like" chairs in "an enormous room" reached via "corridors of bowing girls dressed in white". Toynbee wrote "I have met many powerful men — prime ministers, leaders of all kinds — but I have never in my life met anyone who exudes such an aura of absolute power as Mr. Ikeda."

Accomplishments

Ikeda is a prolific writer, poet, peace activist, educator, and interpreter of Nichiren Buddhism. His interests include art, philosophy, photography, and music. He has signed the Earth Charter, and also is a noteworthy environmentalist. He has travelled to more than 60 countries to hold discussions with many political, cultural, and educational figures, as well as to teach, support, and encourage practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism living in these countries. Topics he has addressed include the transformative value of religion, the universality of life, social responsibility, and sustainable progress and development.

As a mentor of SGI, he has founded several institutions, such as the Soka schools (from kindergarten through university level), the Min-On Concert Association, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the Institute of Oriental Science and the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research to promote educational, cultural, and artistic activities and to conduct exchanges with like groups and institutions on a global scale. In addition, he has guided the Soka Gakkai's support of, and involvement in Komeito,a Japanese Political Party which as of 2007 is part of a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party. Ikeda has also initiated a wide range of grassroots exchange programs and delivered speeches at a number of institutions of higher learning around the world, including Harvard University, the Institut de France, Beijing University and Moscow State University. Gandhi, King, Ikeda exhibition showcases the peace activism of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Ikeda. Another exhibition is Dialogue with Nature showcasing Ikeda's photographs. He has also sponsored the documentary film about the environment, A Quiet Revolution.

Ikeda states that he share his honors with SGI members, saying that they are proof of the outstanding lives that ordinary people around the world are living, based on the practice of Nichiren Buddhism. He also acknowledges that these honorary degrees honor the greatness of his mentor Josei Toda, as well as Toda's mentor Tsunesaburo Makiguchi.

For his humanitarian endeavors in a range of fields, he is the recipient of numerous awards, including the United Nations Peace Award, the Rosa Parks Humanitarian Award, National Order of the Southern Cross of the Republic of Brazil, the United States Congressional Award, the Honorary Cross of Science and the Arts from the Austrian Ministry of Education, Medal of the Grand Officer of Arts and Letters from the French Ministry of Culture, the Grand Officer award from the President of the Italian Republic and the World Poet Laureateship from the World Poetry Society, and The Order of Friendship from Russia. Every year, on 26 January, since 1983, President Ikeda, presents a peace proposal to the United Nations. Dr. Ikeda is the founder of Soka University, the Soka School System, the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century, and the Toda Institute for Global Peace Policy and Research, and The Institute of Oriental Philosophy.

Ikeda is also author of numerous books and has held dialogs on peace, education, and culture with numerous scholars and world leaders. Most notable are his dialogues, such as Choose Life: A Dialogue (English edition, Oxford University Press, 1976), in which Ikeda and historian Arnold J. Toynbee discuss "humanity's predicament in all its aspects." More recently, in Planetary Citizenship: Your Values, Beliefs, and Actions Can Shape a Sustainable World (Middleway Press, 2003), futurist Hazel Henderson and Ikeda "explore the rise of 'grassroots globalists,' ordinary citizens all over the world who are taking responsibility to build a more peaceful, harmonious and sustainable future."

He is also the recipient of the most honorary doctorates awarded to a single individual, including the United Nations Peace Award (1983); Kenya Oral Literature Award (1986, Kenya); 1986 Chinese Peace and Friendship Trophy, the International Tolerance Award of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (1993, U.S.A.); Rosa Parks Humanitarian Award (1993, U.S.A.); Tagore Peace Award (1997, India); the Albert Einstein Peace Award, and the Global Excellence Award, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (2002, U.S.A.).

Ikeda's many children's books have been animated into cartoons in Japan.

Honorary Doctorates and Professorships

Number	Country	Institution	Title Conferred	Date
1	U.S.S.R.	Moscow State University	honorary doctorate	May 1975
2	Peru	National University of San Marcos	hon. professorship	April 1981
3	Bulgaria	Sofia University	honorary doctorate	May 1981
4	China	Peking University	honorary professorship	June 1984
5	China	Fudan University	honorary professorship	June 1984
6	Dominican Republic	Autonomous University of Santo Domingo	honorary professorship	February 1987
7	Argentina	University of Buenos Aires	honorary doctorate	March 1990
8	Mexico	University of Guanajuato	honorary doctorate (Maestro Emérito)	March 1990
9	China	Wuhan University	honorary professorship	November 1990
10	Macau	University of Macau	honorary professorship	January 1991
11	Philippines	University of the Philippines	honorary doctorate of law	April 1991
12	Argentina	University of Palermo	honorary doctorate	May 1991
13	Hong Kong	Chinese University of Hong Kong	distinguished visiting professor	January 1992
14	Turkey	Ankara University	honorary doctorate of social science	June 1992
15	China	Chinese Academy of Social Sciences	honorary research professor	October 1992
16	Kenya	University of Nairobi	honorary doctorate of letters	December 1992
17	Brazil	Federal University of Rio de Janeiro	honorary doctorate	February 1993
18	Argentina	National University of Lomas de Zamora	honorary doctorate	February 1993
19	Argentina	National University of Lomas de Zamora	honorary professorship, faculty of law	February 1993
20	Argentina	National University of Cordoba	honorary professorship	February 1993
21	Paraguay	National University of Asuncion	honorary doctorate of philosophy	February 1993
22	Brazil	University of São Paulo	honorary visiting professor	February 1993
23	Brazil	Federal University of Paraná	honorary doctorate	March 1993
24	Bolivia	Del Valle University	honorary doctorate	March 1993
25	China	Shenzen University	honorary professorship	November 1993
26	China	Xinjian Uygur Autonomous Region Museum	honorary professorship	January 1994
27	Russia	International University in Moscow	honorary doctorate	May 1994
28	Italy	University of Bologna	honorary doctorate	June 1994
29	United Kingdom	University of Glasgow	honorary doctorate	June 1994
30	China	Xinjiang University	honorary professorship	August 1994
31	China	Xiamen University	honorary professorship	November 1994
32	South Africa	University of the North	honorary doctorate of education	September 1995
33	Nepal	Tribhuvan University	honorary doctorate of letters	November 1995
34	Macau	University of Macau	honorary doctorate of social sciences	November 1995
35	Hong Kong	University of Hong Kong	honorary doctorate of letters	March 1996
36	China	Xinjiang University	honorary president	April 1996
37	United States	University of Denver	honorary doctorate of education	June 1996
38	Cuba	University of Havana	honorary doctorate of letters	June 1996
39	Ghana	University of Ghana	honorary doctorate of law	August 1996
40	Russia	Far Eastern State University	honorary doctorate of international education	November 1996
41	China	Zhongshan (Sun Yat-Sen) University	honorary professorship	November 1996
42	China	Jilin University	honorary professorship	February 1997
43	Philippines	De La Salle University	honorary doctorate of humane letters (international education)	March 1997
44	Sri Lanka	University of Kelaniya	honorary doctorate of letters	May 1997
45	China	Shanghai University	honorary professorship	May 1997
46	China	Inner Mongolia University	honorary professorship	October 1997
47	Mongolia	National University of Mongolia	honorary doctorate of humanities	November 1997
48	Philippines	University of the City of Manila	honorary doctorate of humanities	February 1998
49	Argentina	Universidad de Morón	honorary doctorate	March 1998
50	Russia	Institute for High Energy Physics	honorary doctorate	April 1998
51	Brazil	Rio de Janeiro State University	honorary doctorate	April 1998
52	Republic of Korea	Kyung Hee University	honorary doctorate of philosophy	May 1998
53	Republic of Korea	Chung Cheong College	honorary professorship	July 1998
54	Peru	Ricardo Palma University	honorary doctorate	July 1998
55	Peru	Association of Doctors of Education	honorary doctorate	July 1998
56	China	Yanbian University	honorary professorship	November 1998
57	China	Nankai University	honorary professorship	November 1998
58	Brazil	Northern Paraná University	honorary doctorate	November 1998
59	India	University of Delhi	honorary doctorate of letters	December 1998
60	Argentina	University of Flores	honorary doctorate	January 1999
61	China	Sichuan University	honorary professorship	April 1999
62	Peru	Federico Villarreal National University	honorary doctorate	April 1999
63	Republic of Korea	Cheju National University	honorary doctorate of Korean language and literature	May 1999
64	Bolivia	University of Santa Cruz de la Sierra	honorary doctorate	June 1999
65	China	Northeastern University	honorary professorship	July 1999
66	Kyrgystan	Institute of Oriental Languages and Cultures, Kyrgyz State Pedagogical University	honorary professorship	August 1999
67	Peru	National University of Central Peru	honorary doctorate	September 1999
68	China	Hunan Normal University	honorary professorship	September 1999
69	Argentina	National University of Lomas de Zamora	honorary professorship, faculty of social sciences	October 1999
70	Argentina	National University of Comahue	honorary doctorate	October 1999
71	China	Nanjing University	honorary professorship	December 1999
72	Russia	St. Petersburg State University	honorary doctorate	January 2000
73	United States	University of Delaware	honorary doctorate of humane letters	January 2000
74	United States	Queens College, City University of New York	honorary doctorate of humane letters	January 2000
75	Guam (United States)	University of Guam	honorary doctorate of humane letters	January 2000
76	Philippines	Angeles University	honorary doctorate of humanities	February 2000
77	China	Central University for Nationalities	honorary professorship	February 2000
78	China	Guangdong University of Foreign Studies	honorary professorship	February 2000
79	Argentina	National University of Nordeste	honorary doctorate	February 2000
80	China	Northeast Normal University	honorary doctorate	March 2000
81	Sakha Republic (Russia)	Yakutsk State University	honorary professorship	March 2000
82	El Salvador	Latin American Technical University	honorary doctorate	April 2000
83	China	Inner Mongolia Art Academy	preeminent honorary professor	April 2000
84	India	Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath Institute of Sanskrit Learning	honorary doctorate (Mahamahopadhyaya)	April 2000
85	Mongolia	Mongolian Institute of Literature and Social Work	honorary rector	May 2000
86	China	Beijing Administrative College	honorary professorship	May 2000
87	China	Yunnan University	honorary professorship	June 2000
88	China	South China Normal University	honorary professorship	August 2000
89	India	Bundelkhand University	honorary doctorate of letters	August 2000
90	Venezuela	University of Zulia	honorary doctorate	September 2000
91	Panama	University of Panama	honorary doctorate	September 2000
92	India	Bundelkhand University	honorary lifetime professor in the Ambedhar School of Social Sciences	October 2000
93	Thailand	Siam University	honorary doctorate of public administration	November 2000
94	Tonga	Tonga Institute of Education and Tong Tonga Institute of Schinece and Technology	honorary professorship of education	November 2000
95	Australia	University of Sydney	honorary doctorate of letters	November 2000
96	Malaysia	Putra University, Malaysia	honorary doctorate of letters	November 2000
97	Hong Kong	Chinese University of Hong Kong	honorary doctorate of social science	December 2000
98	Mongolia	Mongolian University of Arts and Culture	honorary doctorate	December 2000
99	India	Purvanchai University	honorary doctorate of letters	January 2001
100	China	Guangdong Province Academy of Social Sciences	honorary professorship	February 2001
101	China	Northwest University	honorary professorship	April 2001
102	China	Anhui University	honorary professorship	April 2001
103	Puerto Rico	Carlos Albizu University	honorary doctorate of humane letters in behavioral sciences	May 2001
104	Mongolia	Kharakhorum University	honorary doctorate	May 2001
105	China	Fujian Normal University	honorary professorship	June 2001
106	China	Huaqiao University	honorary professorship	June 2001
107	China	Jinan University	honorary professorship	July 2001
108	Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	Northern Marianas College	honorary professorship	July 2001
109	China	Soochow University	honorary professorship	October 2001
110	China	Liaoning Normal University	honorary professorship	October 2001
111	Philippines	University of Southern Philippines	honorary doctorate of humanities	October 2001
112	China	Guangzhou University	honorary professorship	November 2001
113	Republic of Korea	Kyongju University	honorary professorship	December 2001
114	Republic of Korea	Changwon National University	honorary doctorate of education	December 2001
115	Kazakhstan	International Kazakh-Turkish University	honorary professorship	December 2001
116	Dominican Republic	Santiago Technical University	honorary doctorate	February 2002
117	Uzbekistan	National Institute of Arts and Design (Uzbekistan)	honorary professorship	February 2002
118	China	Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences	senior research professor	March 2002
119	Philippines	Gregorio Araneta University Foundation	honorary doctorate of humanities	March 2002
120	Cambodia	Royal University of Phnom Penh	honorary professorship	March 2002
121	China	Liaoning University	honorary professorship	April 2002
122	United States	Morehouse College	honorary doctorate of humane letters	April 2002
123	China	Qingdao University	honorary professorship	April 2002
124	India	Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University	honorary doctorate of letters	April 2002
125	Kenya	Kenyatta University	honorary doctorate of humane letters	May 2002
126	China	Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences	honorary professorship	May 2002
127	Russia	Moscow State University	honorary professorship	June 2002
128	China	Nanjing Normal University	honorary professorship	June 2002
129	Republic of Korea	Sorabol College	honorary professorship	June 2002
130	India	Himachal Pradesh University	honorary doctorate of literature	August 2002
131	China	Renmin University of China	honorary professorship	September 2002
132	China	University of Science and Technology of China	honorary professorship	October 2002
133	China	Zhejiang University	honorary professorship	November 2002
134	Mongolia	Shihihutung Law School	honorary doctorate	November 2002
135	Ukraine	Kiev National University of Trade and Economics	honorary doctorate	November 2002
136	Republic of Korea	Dong-A University	honorary doctorate of philosophy	December 2002
137	China	Shanghai International Studies University	honorary professorship	December 2002
138	China	Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences	honorary professorship	December 2002
139	India	Bharathidasan University	honorary doctorate of literature	January 2003
140	Peru	National University of Piura	honorary doctorate	February 2003
141	Taiwan	Chinese Culture University	honorary doctorate of philosophy	March 2003
142	China	Dalian University of Foreign Languages	honorary professorship	April 2003
143	Paraguay	Columbia University of Paraguay	honorary doctorate of sociology	April 2003
144	Peru	Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University	honorary doctorate	September 2003
145	China	Northwest Normal University	honorary professorship	October 2003
146	Republic of Korea	Gwangju Women’s University	honorary professorship	October 2003
147	China	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	honorary professorship	October 2003
148	United States	Chapman University	honorary doctorate of humane letters	December 2003
149	China	Zhaoqing University	honorary professorship	December 2003
150	Sakha Republic	Arctic State Institute of Culture and Arts	honorary professorship	January 2004
151	India	Rabindra Bharati University	honorary doctorate of literature	February 2004
152	United States	Mineral Area College	honorary professorship of humanities	February 2004
153	China	National Prosecuters College	honorary professorship	March 2004
154	Taiwan	National Pingtung University	honorary doctorate of agricultural sciences	March 2004
155	Buryat Republic	Buryat State University	honorary professorship	April 2004
156	Brazil	Londrina State University	honorary doctorate	April 2004
157	Bolivia	University of San Francisco Xavier of Chuquisaca	honorary doctorate	May 2004
158	China	University of Petroleum	honorary professorship	May 2004
159	Philippines	Capitol University	honorary doctorate of humanities	June 2004
160	China	Sanda University, Shanghai	honorary professorship	June 2004
161	Jordan	University of Jordan	honorary doctorate of humane letters	July 2004
162	Mexico	University of Guadalajara	honorary doctorate	September 2004
163	China	Fujian Academy of Social Sciences	honorary professorship	September 2004
164	China	Changchun University	honorary professorship	October 2004
165	China	Qufu Normal University	honorary professorship	October 2004
166	Kyrgyzstan	Osh State University	honorary professorship	November 2004
167	Republic of Korea	Paekche Institute of the Arts	honorary professorship	November 2004
168	Mongolia	Otgontenger University	honorary doctorate	December 2004
169	Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	Northern Marianas College	honorary president	January 2005
170	Peru	Enrique Guzman y Valle National University of Education	honorary doctorate	January 2005
171	Belarus	Minsk State Linguistics University	honorary professorship	February 2005
172	Philippines	Batangas State University	honorary doctorate of pedagogy	March 2005
173	China	Shanghai University of Finance and Economics	honorary professorship	April 2005
174	Paraguay	National University of Itapua	honorary doctorate	April 2005
175	China	Beijing Language and Culture University	honorary professorship	May 2005
176	Brazil	Cornélio Procópio College of Philosophy, Science, and Letters	honorary doctorate	May 2005
177	China	Huazhong Normal University	honorary professorship	June 2005
178	China	Guangxi Normal University	honorary professorship	July 2005
179	Mongolia	Mongolian Academy of Sciences Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law	honorary professorship, philosophy	September 2005
180	Vietnam	Vietnam National University, Hanoi	honorary doctorate	September 2005
181	China	East China University of Science and Technology	honorary professorship	October 2005
182	Serbia and Montenegro	Braca Karic University	honorary doctorate	October 2005
183	Russia	Academy of Security, Defense, and Law Enforcement	honorary professorship	December 2005
184	India	Symbiosis International Educational Centre (Deemed University)	honorary doctorate of literature	December 2005
185	Russia	Ural State University	honorary doctorate	January 2006
186	Laos	National University of Laos	honorary professorship of humanities	February 2006
187	Philippines	Pampanga Agricultural College	honorary doctorate of humanities	March 2006
188	China	Hunan University	honorary professorship	April 2006
189	Ukraine	National Technical University of Ukraine "KPI"	honorary doctorate	April 2006
190	China	East China Normal University	honorary professorship	May 2006
191	China	Nanjing Arts Institute	honorary professorship	May 2006
192	India	Visva-Bharati	honorary doctorate of literature	May 2006
193	China	China Southwest University of Political Science and Law	honorary professorship	June 2006
194	United States	Southern Illinois University Carbondale	honorary doctorate of humane letters	June 2006
195	United States	Los Angeles Southwest College	honorary professorship	June 2006
196	China	Shaoguan University	honorary professorship	June 2006
197	Republic of Korea	Dong Shin University	honorary doctorate of public administration	June 2006
198	Thailand	Maejo University	honorary doctorate of administration	July 2006
199	Brazil	Catholic College of Economic Science of Bahia	honorary doctorate	September 2006
200	China	Beijing Normal University	honorary professorship	October 2006
201	Philippines	University of Rizal System	honorary doctorate of humanities	Nov 24, 2006
202	China	Dalian University of Technology	honorary professorship	Dec 8, 2006
203	Republic of Korea	Dongju College	honorary professorship	Feb 6, 2007
204	China	Guizhou University	honorary professorship	Feb 26, 2007
205	Russia	Baikal National University of Economics and Law	honorary professorship	Mar 13, 2007
206	Venezuela	Rafael Belloso Chacín University	honorary doctorate	Mar 20, 2007
207	Venezuela	Santa María University	honorary doctorate of law	Mar 20, 2007
208	Italy	University of Palermo	honorary doctorate of communication sciences	Mar 23, 2007
209	Brazil	Brazilian Academy of Philosophy	honorary doctorate	Apr 2, 2007
210	United States	University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	honorary doctorate of humane letters	Apr 17, 2007
211	China	Harbin Engineering University	honorary professorship	Apr 18, 2007
212	Brazil	Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul	honorary doctorate	Apr 29, 2007
213	China	Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences	honorary professorship	May 5, 2007
214	Taiwan	Southern Taiwan University of Technology	honorary doctorate of engineering	May 28, 2007
215	Russia	Russian State University for the Humanities	honorary doctorate	May 31, 2007
216	Peru	National University of El Santa	honorary doctorate	Jun 23, 2007
217	Sakha Republic (Russia)	The Yakut State Agricultural Academy	honorary professorship	Jul 4, 2007
218	Russia	Far Eastern State Technical University	honorary professorship	Jul 9, 2007
219	Philippines	University of Southeastern Philippines	honorary doctorate of education	Sep 13, 2007
220	China	Shaanxi Normal University	honorary professorship	Oct 6, 2007
221	Mexico	University of Humanistic Integration	honorary doctorate of human sciences	Oct 8, 2007
222	Brazil	Ingá University (UNINGÁ)	honorary professorship	Oct 10, 2007
223	China	China Youth University for Political Sciences	honorary professorship	Oct 21, 2007
224	Mongolia	Mongolian State University of Education	honorary doctorate	Oct 24, 2007
225	China	Wenzhou Medical College	honorary professorship	Nov 30, 2007
226	China	Shanghai Normal University	honorary professorship	Dec 17, 2007
227	Dominican Republic	Autonomous University of Santo Domingo	honorary doctorate	Jan 19, 2008
228	Taiwan	National Yunlin University of Science and Technology	honorary doctorate of philosophy in management	Jan 21, 2008
229	Philippines	Laguna State Polytechnic University	honorary doctorate of philosophy in humanities	Jan 26, 2008
230	China	Hunan University of Science and Technology	honorary professorship	Mar 1, 2008
231	Kyrgyz Republic	I. Arabaev Kyrgyz State University	honorary doctorate	Mar 21, 2008
232	China	Jiaying University	honorary professorship	Mar 31, 2008
233	Russia	Tula Lev Tolstoy State Pedagogical University	honorary professorship	Apr 2, 2008
234	China	Hebei University	honorary professorship	Apr 13, 2008
235	China	Yan'an University	honorary professorship	May 4, 2008
236	China	Eastern Liaoning University	lifetime honorary professorship	May 30, 2008
237	China	Changchun University of Technology	honorary professorship	Jun 2, 2008
238	Brazil	Centro Universitário de Goiás	honorary doctorate	Jun 17, 2008
239	Brazil	Centro Universitário Ítalo Brasileiro	honorary doctorate	Jun 20, 2008
240	Philippines	Benguet State University	honorary doctorate of humanities	Jul 10, 2008
241	Taiwan	Chungyu Institute of Technology	honorary professorship	Jul 22, 2008
242	Taiwan	Tainan University of Technology	honorary professorship	Jul 24, 2008
243	Malaysia	Open University Malaysia	honorary doctorate of Arts	Feb 24, 2009
250	Denmark	South Danish University	honorary doctorate	March 21, 2009

• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• University of Sydney
• Northeast Normal University
• University of Delaware
• St. Petersburg State University
• University of Hong Kong
• University of Macau
• [1]

Criticism

In 1995, Daisaku Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai were critically reported on in Time magazine. In 1999, The New York Times did a piece on the uneasy rise of the New Komeito party in Japan funded largely by Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai.

Soka Gakkai is criticized for having too much of its focus on President Ikeda, not respecting the Buddhist idea of following the ideal and not the man.

Books

• The Human Revolution (12 volumes)
• The New Human Revolution (10 Volumes)
• Choose Life: A Dialogue with Arnold J. Toynbee
• Dawn After Dark with René Huyghe
• Before It Is Too Late with Aurelio Peccei
• Human Values in a changing world with Bryan Wilson
• A Lifelong Quest for Peace with Linus Pauling
• Dialogue of World Citizens with Norman Cousins
• Choose Peace with Johan Galtung
• Planetary Citizenship with Hazel Henderson
• Moral Lesson of the Twentieth Century with Mikhail Gorbachev
• A Quest for Global Peace: Rotblat and Ikeda on War, Ethics, and the Nuclear Threat with Joseph Rotblat
• Global Civilization: A Buddhist-Islamic Dialogue With Majid Tehranian
• Toward Creating an Age of Humanism with John Kenneth Galbraith
• Dialogical Civilization with Tu Weiming
• My Recollections
• One By One
• For the Sake of Peace
• A Youthful Diary
• The Living Buddha
• Buddhism, the First Millenium
• The Flower of Chinese Buddhism
• The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra (6 volumes)
• On Peace, Life and Philosophy with Henry Kissinger
• Revolutions: to green the environment, to grow the human heart with M.S. Swaminathan
• Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth and Death: A Buddhist View of Life
• Life: An Enigma, a Precious Jewel
• Humanity at the Crossroads with Karan Singh
• The Snow Country Prince (children's book)
• The Cherry Tree (children's book)
• The Princess and the Moon (children's book)
• Over the Deep Blue Sea (children's book)
• Kanta and the Deer (children's book)
• The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life's Questions (with a foreword by Duncan Sheik)
• Planetary Citizenship with Hazel Henderson
• Songs of Peace: Rendezvous with Nature (Photographs) (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 2005)
• "A Dialogue Between East and West: Looking to a Human Revolution" with Ricardo Diez-Hochleitner

References

• Seager, Richard: Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhism. University of California Press, 2006.

External links

• Official Page for Daisaku Ikeda
• Official Quotes Site for Daisaku Ikeda
• Official Books Site for Daisaku Ikeda
• Official Page for SGI President Daisaku Ikeda
• Official Soka Gakkai Page
• Time Magazine Online: The Power of Soka Gakkai
• A Sect's Political Rise Creates Uneasiness in Japan
• Exhibition Tokyo Fuji Art Museum April 2002 - Friedl and the Children of Terezin: An Exhibition of Art and Hope, (Tokyo Fuji Art Museum founder Daisaku Ikeda, who was instrumental in bringing the exhibit to Japan, comments)

  "The various artworks left behind by this great woman and the children of Terezin are their legacy to the present, to all of us today. They demand that we continue in our quest for a society that truly treasures human life, transcending all differences of race, religion, politics and ideology. It remains my heartfelt hope that this exhibit may provide a moment of introspection for its viewers, a moment for us to reaffirm the importance of our rights as human beings and the value of life itself."

• Tricycle Magazine Interview with Daisaku Ikeda, by Clark Strand, Winter 2008
• Peacebuilders: Daisaku Ikeda & Josei Toda, Buddhist Leaders, children's chapter book biography by M. LaVora Perry (FortuneChild/Forest Hill Publishing, March 16, 2010)

Friendship links

• Daisaku Ikeda quote in chinese
• Soka Gakkai Malaysia publication "cosmic"
• Faith into Action-Quote