Daisaku Ikeda (1928-2023)

Daisaku Ikeda was born in Tokyo on January 2, 1928, the fifth of eight children, to a family of seaweed farmers. As a teenager he lived through the devastation of the Second World War. Its senseless horror left an indelible mark on his life, especially as a result of the personal tradgedy he suffered when his eldest brother was killed in action.

At the age of nineteen, he met Josei Toda (1900-58), second president of the Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organization whose activities are based on the philosophy of the Buddhist reformer Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282). Ikeda found in Toda more than a friend, he found a mentor, a person with a unique gift for explaining profound Buddhist concepts in logical, accessible terms. Ikeda who from his youth was an avid reader of poetry, literature and philosophy, displayed an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Amidst poverty and ill-health, he continued his stuides under the tutelage of publisher Toda. Through this relationship he came to understand the spirit of Soka Gakkai, which embodies the principles of peace, culture, and education. Today, Daisaku Ikeda is the president of Soka Gakkai International which counts over 12 million members worldwide.

In 1952, Ikeda married Kaneko Shiraki. Comrade and confidante ever since, she was his constant companion in his journeys for peace for more than forty years.

Central to Ikeda's thinking is the idea that a self-directed transformation within the life of each individual, rather than societal or structural reforms alone, holds the key to lasting peace and human happiness. This is based on the Buddhist principle that all individuals possess the ability to create limitless value in harmony with others. It is expressed perhaps most succinctly in the following passage from The Human Revolution, Ikeda's novelization of the Soka Gakkai's history and development: "A great revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society, and further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind."

To this day Mr. Ikeda continues to strive for peace, and he has visited over 50 countries, placing great emphasis on meeting and conversing with scholars and cultural and political leaders from around the world. Around the globe he has held speeches at leading institutions for higher education, among them Harvard University and the Institut de France.

Mr. Ikeda is also founder of Soka University, the Soka School system, the Min-On Concert Association, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the Institute of Oriental Philosophy, and the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research. He is honoured with numerous awards, including the United Nations Peace Award and recipient of honorary doctorates from over 100 universities. The World Society of Poetry awarded him the World Poet Laureate title.

Among his various writings which have been translated into 30 languages, there is a series of novels like The Human Revolutioin, and dialogues including Choose Life (with Arnold Toynbee), Before it is too late (with Aurelio Peccei), On the Search of New Humanity (with Josef Derbolav), Spiritual Lessons of the Twentieth Century (with Michail Gorbatschow), Encountering on Fuji Yama (with Tschingis Aitmatow), and Choose Peace (with Johan Galtung). He has also written books for children, including The Snow Country Prince, The Cherry Tree, and The Princess and the Moon.

Recently, he had dedicated his time especially to the dialogue with young people, for instance with the publication of The Way of Youth.

Daisaku Ikeda died of natural causes at his home in Tokyo on November 15, 2023 at the age of ninety-five.