Published by Soka Spirit Editor
Posted on May 12, 2009
Dave Baldschun
Mr. Nojima’s opening remarks at the fourth General Meeting
NST also cited the remarks made by Tatsuji Nojima, director of Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, at the fourth general meeting. Again, here is an accurate translation of his remarks:
It must be noted that, after the suspension of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai periodical Kachi Sozo, meetings were often conducted under the direct surveillance of the Special High Police. In order to continue meeting under such strict surveillance, Mr. Nojima and other leaders (other than Mr. Makiguchi) might have made comments such as this. And it should be noted that Nojima’s view is different from that of Mr. Makiguchi; Mr. Makiguchi’s view was that the fundamental reason for the war was the slander of the Buddhist Law. Obviously, there were differences in the views of all the members of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai about the war, as well as differences in their depth of understanding about Nichiren Buddhism. These different views were part of Mr. Makiguchi’s challenge to educate the members.
During the military regime’s persecution against Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, Mr. Nojima was then vice director of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai. He was arrested together with other members, yet he was not able to survive the severe persecution in prison, and he abandoned his beliefs. Nojima did not agree with Makiguchi’s decision to reject Nichiren Shoshu’s proposal to accept Shinto talisman. He carried a grudge because of this. Nojima later left the Soka Gakkai and became a Hokke-ko member of Nichiren Shoshu and attacked President Toda, trying to break apart the Soka Gakkai organization.
Regarding Nichiren Shoshu’s Cooperation with the Japanese Imperial Government During World War II
The Nichiren Shoshu administration issued a notice on August 24, 1941, stating that, because the Daishonin’s works were written over 700 years ago during the Kamakura period, the writings presented problems for people of the present age. Those reading his writings might “doubt the Daishonin’s desire to respect the emperor and protect his empire.” Thus, the priesthood decided to stop publication of the Daishonin’s writings.
On September 29, 1941 Nichiren Shoshu issued a notice instructing the deletion of certain passages from the Daishonin’s writings. These passages were ones where the nation’s sovereignty, symbolized by the Sun Goddess, which the Shinto religion considered to be the supreme deity and the origin of Japan’s imperial lineage, is described as inferior or subordinate to the Buddha.
In addition, Nichiren Shoshu revised the silent prayers of its liturgy in order to appease the military regime. On August 22, 1941, a notice was issued with the new silent prayers extolling the nationalistic ideals of the military regime and promoting state Shinto.
The revised first silent prayer read: “I humbly thank the Sun Goddess, the ancestor of the emperor, and all emperors of the successive reigns since the time of first Emperor Jimmu for the great debt of gratitude I owe to them.” In the fourth silent prayer, a prayer traditionally for the widespread propagation of the Daishonin’s Buddhism, the priesthood inserted nationalistic expressions such as “the unity of government and people” and “the increase of the nation’s majesty.”
On December 7, 1941, the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, starting the Pacific war, High Priest Nikkyo issued following communique:
“Today His Majesty [Emperor Hirohito] declared war on the United States of America and the United Kingdom. I can hardly suppress my awe and joy at this….
” I ask that all believers summon forth the faith and practice they assiduously developed thus far and ensure victory in this great, unprecedented battle, through their resolve to endure any hardship and exert their utmost in their respective positions and capacities.”
His communique is filled with expressions longing for the outbreak of the Pacific war and the priesthood’s willing support for the military regime.
As the nation plunged into war, the priesthood’s support for the military regime became even more enthusiastic. The January 1942 issue of Dai-Nichiren, the priesthood’s official magazine, carried High Priest Nikkyo’s New Year message in which he included nationalist propaganda in support of the nation’s war efforts. In this message, Nikkyo declared, “It is the purpose of the founder’s advent for us to realize the principle ‘the world is the Japanese nation,’ through loyally dedicating our lives to the nation.”
On October 10, 1942, the Nichiren Shoshu administrative office issued a notice instructing believers henceforth to face and worship in the direction of the Ise Shinto Shrine, at 10:00 A.M. every October 17 when an important annual Shinto harvest festivity was customarily held there.
On November 19, 1942, the priesthood established the Nichiren Shoshu Hokokudan (Nichiren Shoshu Association for Serving the Nation) “in order that priests and lay believers in each parish will cooperate and unite for the promotion of the movement to serve the nation.” The association’s chief purpose to serve the nation meant supporting the national war effort. The association went on to raise money for the war and it encouraged its members to pray for Japan’s victory, as well as for the success and good fortune of the Imperial Army. The high priest became the association’s first secretary general.
While the priesthood enthusiastically supported the nation’s war efforts, the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai continued to uphold the Daishonin’s teachings and refused to accept the Shinto talisman. The priesthood grew nervous about the lay organization’s stance.
In June 1943, the priesthood summoned Soka Gakkai leaders to the head temple. With Nikkyo, the sixty-second high priest, and Nichiko, the retired fifty-ninth high priest, in attendance, Jikai Watanabe, then director of general affairs, instructed all Gakkai members to accept the Shinto talisman that the government was urging all households to enshrine and worship. The Shinto talisman was a small paper religious object depicting the Sun Goddess. President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi refused to accept it. Later that same month, Makiguchi returned to the head temple to remonstrate with the high priest on this point. His warning, however, fell on deaf ears.
Instead of heeding Makiguchi’s warning, the priesthood attempted to discipline the Gakkai leaders for their disobedience by barring them from the head temple. On July, 21 Soka Gakkai leaders, including President Makiguchi and General Director Josei Toda, were arrested. The priesthood denied all ties with those who had offended the military regime on account of their belief in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism.
During priest seminars held at Taiseki-ji on August 21 and 22, and again on August 25 and 26, 1943, the Nichiren Shoshu administration instructed participants to enshrine a Shinto talisman in their living quarters at their branch temples. On November 1, the head temple’s administrative office issued a notice instructing all believers to visit a local Shinto shrine for a Shinto festival commemorating the birth of the late Emperor Meiji and to pray for Japan’s victory in the war.
The priesthood also contributed head temple properties to the military regime. Giant cedar trees on the temple grounds were felled for lumber, and a large bell was removed, to be melted down for military use.
In December 1944, the priesthood made a grand lodging hall on the head temple grounds available for a regiment of the Korean Volunteer Army. Despite its euphemistic name, the “volunteer army” consisted of Koreans brought to Japan as farm laborers from their occupied country, under the command of Japanese military officers. Soon after the regiment came to the head temple, a Shinto talisman was enshrined in the Grand Lodging Hall next to the high priest’s living quarters. Enshrining a Shinto talisman at the head temple was indeed symbolic of the priesthood’s distortion of the Daishonin’s Buddhism.