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March 8, 2004 -- No. 186 |
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The Justice Chronicle,
provided by Soka Gakkai International-USA, is a free monthly
e-mail in support of the Soka Spirit movement. Soka Spirit
is the SGI's educational effort to create value and deepen
our understanding of Nichiren Buddhism through increased
awareness of issues surrounding the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood
and the spiritual foundation of the SGI movement.
SUPREME COURT DISMISSES NICHIREN SHOSHU APPEAL ON ‘GEISHA
PHOTO’ CASE
On Feb. 24, the Japanese Supreme Court, presided by Judge
Toshihiro Kanatani, dismissed an appeal filed by Nichiren
Shoshu, ending the legal battle over the so-called ?Geisha
Photo Case? in favor of the Soka Gakkai.
The priesthood claimed that the publication of photographs
taken in 1986 in several articles in the Soka Shimpo,
a Soka Gakkai newspaper, showing Nichiren Shoshu High
Priest Nikken Abe in the company of paid female escorts,
constituted defamation. The plaintiff (Nichiren Shoshu
and Taiseki-ji Main Temple), naming the Soka Gakkai and
SGI President Ikeda as defendants, sought excessive monetary
damages. The photographs in question were taken at an
expensive Japanese restaurant in Tokyo and provided to
Soka Shimpo by reformist priest Rev. Hosho Shiina (who
passed away last year) to question the high priest’s
integrity as a spiritual leader. Some of the photos were
modified to protect the identities of those unrelated
to the matter at the request of Rev. Shiina.
Although the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of the
plaintiff’s partial claims and ordered the defendants
to pay damages, the Soka Gakkai filed an appeal with the
Tokyo High Court, which overturned the lower court’s
decision in 2000.
The High Court stated that: ?Throughout the history of
Nichiren Shoshu, there have been cases where the qualification
of the high priest of the time was challenged by priests
and lay believers and the high priest was asked to resign
because of his doctrinal deviation or improper conduct.
It was thus a matter of fact that such high priests were
removed from their position. Argument or actions against
the current high priest to question his competency were
undertaken with the intention of protecting the correct
Buddhist teachings and Nichiren Shoshu. Consequently they
should not be construed as being targeted against Nichiren
Shoshu.?Nichiren Shoshu and Taiseki-ji then sought a final
decision from the Japanese Supreme Court, which upheld
the appellate court’s ruling by dismissing the priesthood’s
appeal
BRAZILIAN COURT REJECTS NICHIREN
SHOSHU APPEAL
The Federal Supreme Court of Sao Paulo state recently
dismissed a lawsuit filed by Nichiren Shoshu seeking to
overturn a March 2000 Supreme Court ruling that evicted
the priesthood from Ichijo-ji temple, returning it to
the possession of its rightful owners, SGI-Brazil.
According to the Feb. 13, 2004, Sao Paulo Court Registrar,
the Superior Court ruled ?there exists no legal basis
for an appeal.?
The legal battle over Ichijo-ji temple building, which
has since been renamed Josho Kaikan (Ever Victorious Center),
began in 1991, when Nichiren Shoshu attempted to replace
an SGI-Brazil trustee of the facility with an individual
associated with the priesthood. The SGI trustee then filed
suit against the move, which was declared to be illegal
by three Brazilian courts. Under Brazilian law, however,
parties are entitled to contest any verdict within two
years of its ruling. Nichiren Shoshu filed its suit on
April 24, 2002, but with the recent dismissal, has lost
legal recourse to the contested facility.
TOKYO DISTRICT COURT DISMISSES
ANTI-SOKA GAKKAI SUIT
On Jan. 26, the Tokyo District Court dismissed a civil
suit against the Soka Gakkai and the sales distribution
and advertisement commissioning agencies of three major
Japanese newspapers.
The lawsuit, filed by Hozumi Yano, Daito Asaki and his
daughter, Naoko, in 1997, alleged that the defendants
illegally denied distribution of the Higashi Murayama
Shimin Shimbun, a newsletter published by the plaintiffs.
District Court Judge Toshiko Kobayashi ruled that there
was no evidence that members of the Soka Gakkai pressured
the agencies to exclude the newsletter from the ad supplements
of such national dailies as the Yomiuri and Asahi, absolving
the lay Buddhist group of any involvement. The judge further
stated that the decision not to distribute the newsletter,
which contained libelous allegations against the Soka
Gakkai, did not constitute a breach of contract between
the plaintiffs and agencies being sued.
The Seikyo Shimbun describes Hozumi Yano -- who, along
with the two Asakis, is a legislator of the Higashi Murayama
City Assembly -- as ?litigation-happy.? He has sued a
shop owner of a clothing store that pressed for a shoplifting
charge against Akiyo Asaki (a fellow assemblywoman who
jumped to her death in 1995), and the various emergency
medical services involved in the incident. He and the
two surviving Asakis later claimed in tabloid magazine
interviews that the Soka Gakkai was involved in Akiyo’s
death, despite the fact that the police as well as the
public prosecutor’s office have determined her death
to be a suicide. The Soka Gakkai has won all five court
cases related to the so-called Asaki incident. (For further
details, see JUSTICE CHRONICLE No. 158 and 160.)
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