President of Soka Gakkai International
Daisaku Ikeda
a Buddhist thinker, author and educator.....
Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), was born on January 2, 1928, in Tokyo, Japan. His family's business was producing a form of edible seaweed. His interests include poetry, art, music, philosophy and photography.
Mr. Ikeda is a Buddhist thinker, author and educator who believes that only through personal interaction and dialogue across cultural and philosophical boundaries can human beings nurture the trust and understanding that is necessary for lasting peace. To date, he has traveled to more than 50 countries in pursuit of this ideal, holding discussions with many distinguished political, cultural and educational figures.
Ikeda was seventeen when the Second World War ended in 1945. His four elder brothers had been drafted for military service, and the eldest was killed in combat. The anguish of those days left an indelible impression on the young Ikeda and prompted his life-long endeavor to root out the fundamental causes of human conflict.
In 1947, Ikeda met Josei Toda, the man who was to become his mentor and play a decisive role in shaping the course of his life. Toda, later the second president of the Soka Gakkai, was an innovative educator who was deeply committed to the ideals and practice of Nichiren Buddhism. During the war, he was imprisoned together with the first Soka Gakkai president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi-who later died in prison-by the authorities because of their opposition to Japanese militarism. Upon his release in July 1945, Toda dedicated his life to the development of the Soka Gakkai and the realization of a humane society.
The SGI leader has founded several institutions, such as the Soka schools (from kindergarten through university level), the Min-On Concert Association and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, in order to promote educational, cultural and artistic activities and conduct exchanges with like groups and institutions on a global scale. 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 and Beijing University.
Mr. Ikeda has received honorary doctorates from 20 universities, and has honorary professorships in 14 universities. For his humanitarian endeavors in a range of fields, he is the recipient of numerous awards, including the United Nations Peace Award.
Major books that he has written include: The Human Revolution (12 volumes),Choose Life: A Dialogue with Dr. Arnold J. Toynbee; Dawn After Dark with Dr. René Hughye; Before It Is Too Late with Dr. Aurelio Peccei; A Lifelong Quest for Peace with Dr. Linus Pauling; Dialogue of World Citizens with Dr. Norman Cousins; Choose Peace, with Dr. Johan Galtung; The Snow Country Prince, The Cherry Tree, The Princess and the Moon and Over the Deep Blue Sea (children's books translated into over ten languages).
Each year since 1983, Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda presents peace proposals on behalf of the international lay Buddhist organization, to which Soka Gakkai belongs. In them, he articulates Buddhist ideals and philosophy as a framework for addressing the manifold problems our global society faces in its efforts to realize human security and world peace.
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