| 2003 | |
| Feb. 26 | The Tokyo District Court rules against Nichiren Shoshu for the illegal distribution of defamatory materials through the group, “The Society to Protect Religion and Ideology.” |
| Apr. 8 | The Tokyo High Court orders Taiseki-ji to pay compensation for illegal disposal of cremated remains. |
| July 9 | The Osaka High Court orders Nichiren Shoshu chief priest Tomohide Chikayama, of Byoudouji-temple, and its followers to pay compensation for slandering the New Komei Party through false leaflets. |
| July 15 | The Japanese Supreme Court upholds two previous lower court rulings that found Nikken accountable for libel; Nikken publicly stated that Rev. Takudo Ikeda accepted money from the Soka Gakkai to secede from Nichiren Shoshu. |
| July 23 | Nichiren Shoshu chief priest Tomohide Chikayama decides to accepts the Osaka High Court’s ruling to pay compensation for slandering the New Komei Party. |
| Sept. 9 | The Japanese Supreme Court rules in Soka Gakkai’s favor in a defamation suit against Nichiren Shoshu and Nikken. Soka Gakkai filed the suit in January 1996 after Nichiren Shoshu and Nikken alleged that it had illegally planted a fraudulent entry in US government records relating to the so-called “Seattle Incident.” |
| Dec. 19 | The Japanese Supreme Court dismisses the final appeal of Nichiren Shoshu pertaining to their unlawful dumping of cremated remains. In March 2000, four plaintiffs filed suit against Nichiren Shoshu for damages over unlawful dumping of the cremated remains of family members along with the remains of numerous others. In April 2003, the Tokyo High Court ordered Taiseki-ji to pay damages to each bereaved family. |
| 2004 | |
| Feb. 24 | The Japanese Supreme Court rejects an appeal made by Nichiren Shoshu in a lawsuit pertaining to Nikken’s “Geisha pictures” and the Soka Gakkai. The pictures, carried in the Soka Shimpo, Nov. 4 and 18, 1992, were originally taken in Nov. 22, 1986 at an expensive restaurant where Nikken and other priests had an elaborate dinner with several “geishas.” In May 1993, Nichiren Shoshu and Taiseki-ji filed a suit claiming that the reporting was libel and demanded damages. In Dec. 2000, the Tokyo High Court recognized that the purpose of the Soka Shimpo article was to bring about a discussion on Nikken’s qualification as high priest, and the Supreme Court confirmed this. |