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6. 'A Senior Priest Tells a
Story, Interview with Jisai Watanabe — Part 1 |
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The following is a two-part
article based on an interview that appeared in four installments
in the Soka Gakkai youth division newspaper, the Soka
Shimpo (Nov. 18 and Dec. 2, 1992, issues), with Mr. Jisai
Watanabe, chief priest of Daikyo-ji temple in Kanagawa.
Mr. Watanabe, a former high-ranking official of Nichiren
Shoshu, seceded from the head temple last October to protest
the injustices of High Priest Nikken. During his 44 years
with Nichiren Shoshu, Mr. Watanabe witnessed the sect’s
remarkable rise under the protection of the Soka Gakkai
as well as the recent series of questionable actions the
priesthood has taken against the Soka Gakkai.
As is well known, the person who urged President Makiguchi
and President Toda to accept the Shinto talisman [during
World War II] was my father, Nichiyo (Jikai) Watanabe,
the head of General Affairs at that time. Because the
priesthood was severely oppressed by the military, it
felt the only choice was to go along with the priest Jimon
Ogasawara’s plot to sell out to the Minobu sect.
The result was that President Makiguchi died in prison.
I’m deeply shamed by this.
I had decided to break away from the priesthood by Nov.
18 [of last year], the anniversary of President Makiguchi’s
death. I deeply apologize from the bottom of my heart,
and I wish to make a fresh start.
In November, I heard that some members of the Makiguchi
family said, “We are deeply pleased to hear that
he has seceded from the priesthood.” It would be
natural for them to feel indignant toward me as Nichiyo’s
son. For the rest of my life I will remember their warm
and encouraging words.
My father also repented his behavior later in life. He
praised and wholeheartedly expressed his understanding
of the Gakkai’s great goal of worldwide kosen-rufu.
He told me, “You must be a priest who protects the
Gakkai for the rest of your life, even if by yourself.”
I think he would be happy with my decision to break from
the priesthood.
It is now clear that Nikken and others conspired in July
of 1990 [to enact a plan to sever the SGI]. In fact, when
I was at the head temple for a teachers guidance meeting
last summer, Jitoku Kawabe asked me if I had my father’s
diary. I assumed they were looking for information to
counter the Soka Gakkai’s argument regarding the
Shinto talisman issue, should a conflict arise. Mr. Kawabe
must have been collecting information since that time.
However, if you were to ask me when it was that Nikken
conceived Operation C, I would say that it was when he
became high priest in July of 1979.
His jealousy of President Ikeda could be one reason for
this problem. However, from the point of view of those
inside the priesthood, Nikken has always had deep ambitions
to become the greatest high priest, a brilliant “restorer”
of Nichiren Shoshu. I think this has been the motivation
behind his actions.
During the ceremony to report to the Dai-Gohonzon of the
transfer of high priests held in April 1980, Nikken said
that the “restoration of the teachings” means
to return to the time of the founder of the teachings
and the founder of the head temple (Nichiren Daishonin
and Nikko Shonin). He stated, “I will accomplish
the ‘restoration of the teachings.’”
He was implying that the previous high priests had acted
incorrectly.
During the time of Nissho Shonin (the 64th high priest,
who served from 1947 through 1956), the impoverished head
temple was reconstructed through the devoted protection
of Mr. Toda. Simultaneously a great shakubuku campaign
began. In other words, the sun of kosen-rufu began to
rise. Also, during the time of Nichijun Shonin (the 65th
high priest: 1956-1959), the Grand Lecture Hall and the
Hoanden were built. This was a time of absolutely pure
harmony between priests and laity. Moreover, during Nittatsu
Shonin’s time, the Grand Reception Hall was completed
and the Sho-Hondo was erected through the efforts of President
Ikeda. Hence, the foundation for kosen-rufu in the Latter
Day of the Law was achieved.
The question then became: What did High Priest Nikken
have to leave as his legacy? No matter how eager he may
have been, there was nothing that would make his name
famous throughout history.
Nikken, with his selfish and competitive nature, could
not stand for this. That is why, on the pretext of “restoring
the teachings,” he tried to deny and destroy the
achievements of the Soka Gakkai and the successive high
priests by saying that they had nothing to do with kosen-rufu
and that the true foundation of kosen-rufu would be established
during his time.
You might say that his primary motivation has been the
acquisition of wealth and fame. He is truly dreadful.
Nikken’s nickname, “instant boiler”
[which refers to his hot temper], does not apply in the
case of breaking with the Soka Gakkai. The jealousy and
rage he felt toward President Ikeda manifested in the
plot about which he thought long and hard.
He was always saying that “rationale” and
“opportunity” were very important. He pondered
carefully over the timing. Also, in order to cut off the
Soka Gakkai, he asked himself, “What is the best
‘rationale’ to carry out my intent?”
The 700th anniversary of the founding of the head temple
was the best opportunity for the point of demarcation.
Seven hundred years ago, Nikko Shonin left Mount Minobu
and built Taiseki-ji because of the slander of Hakiri
Sanenaga, the lord of the manor there. Nikken twisted
historical facts to say that Hakiri Sanenaga and President
Ikeda play similar roles in Nichiren Shoshu history. He
proceeded to “cut” [excommunicate] President
Ikeda. In the same way that Nikko Shonin built the Mutsubo
as the starting point of the head temple, Nikken began
rebuilding the Mutsubo as his own starting point.
Nikken decided to do this suddenly. [The initial plans
for refurbishing the head temple for the 700th anniversary
did not include the Mutsubo.] Because the original structure
had completely deteriorated since Nikko Shonin’s
time, a new Mutsubo was donated by the Soka Gakkai during
Nittatsu Shonin’s time.
One by one, Nikken began to destroy the buildings related
to President Ikeda. This means that he has also been destroying
the achievements of earlier high priests. The new Mutsubo
is very luxurious; for example, the cost of a single pillar
was more than ¥100 million (about $800,000). In addition,
Nikken destroyed the Daikejo and the “Nagare no
Niwa” (flowing garden) located in the Daibo, both
of which Nittatsu Shonin had constructed with great care.
He also changed the Fuji Seminary into a Kyoto-style garden.
He has thus been trying to completely transform the head
temple over the last 10 years.
But because he could never surpass Nittatsu Shonin, who
constructed the Sho-Hondo, the true high sanctuary, Nikken
employed makeshift methods to try to discredit him. After
the current dispute began, he gathered all of the certified
priests at the head temple on January 6 of last year [1991]
and made a crucial statement: “What is the source
of President Ikeda’s arrogance? The answer is that
he himself decided upon the significance of the Sho-Hondo
when no one in the priesthood spoke of it. That was the
major source of his arrogance.”
Nikken later admitted that his statement was a result
of his own misunderstanding.
But his statement reflects more than a simple misunderstanding.
In my opinion, Nikken’s real intention was not only
to accuse President Ikeda of arrogance, but to distort
the fact that Nittatsu Shonin had defined the Sho-Hondo
as “a supreme edifice that is the High Sanctuary
of Honmon-ji (the Temple of True Buddhism).” Nikken
has insisted that Nittatsu Shonin’s definition of
the Sho-Hondo was forced upon him by President Ikeda.
Supposing this were true, the Sho-Hondo, which was established
during Nittatsu Shonin’s time, would not be the
true high sanctuary that accords with the will of Nichiren
Daishonin. After negating the validity of the Sho-Hondo,
Nikken would then establish the “true” high
sanctuary—this would have been his scenario.
It is believed among the priests that Nikken would have
designed his high sanctuary in the traditional Japanese
fashion, just like the Mutsubo.
Last June he was troubled by the Soka Gakkai’s letter
of inquiry concerning the correction of his statements
about the Sho-Hondo. After a meeting with other priests
in the Grand Lecture Hall, he whispered to me that we
should not keep his thesis titled “Regarding the
Error of the Theory of the National High Sanctuary”
in the records. He said it would make him look bad.
This thesis refutes the Myoshinko group’s statement
that the Sho-Hondo should be the “national high
sanctuary.” Of course, the tone of the thesis supports
the Soka Gakkai’s view of the significance of the
Sho-Hondo. Knowing it could be fatal if this document
remained in the records, he requested its recall.
He began to tell people that writing this document had
been a mistake. He has been collecting money during the
last ten years or so to construct a building that would
replace the Sho-Hondo. In other words, accumulating as
much money as possible and then cutting off the Soka Gakkai
were premeditated acts.
The amount of the donation required for priests to bestow
memorial tablets (toba) was raised in April 1990. At that
time, thousands of toba were being manufactured at the
head temple every day. Nikken saw this and, in one stroke,
doubled the price under the pretext that “The local
temples strongly requested this.” However, the local
temples had heard nothing about it, and no one had asked
for such a thing. We priests were surprised ourselves
to hear about the sudden doubling of the price. Now people
are saying that Nikken has amassed an enormous amount
of money.
In January 1991, when the conflict came to the forefront,
there was a funeral for the chief priest of Minaminobo
temple (on the head temple grounds). Mrs. Hayase (wife
of Gikan Hayase, chief of General Affairs of Nichiren
Shoshu) told my wife: “This time we have power that
we did not have in 1977. We have built enough financial
strength to fight the Soka Gakkai.”
It is tragic that the priesthood is fulfilling its wicked
ambitions using the members’ sincere contributions.
There is still more evidence of Nikken’s ambition.
He is now planning to publish a new compilation of the
Gosho as a way of leaving his name in the annals of Nichiren
Shoshu forever. Because he resents the fact that the Soka
Gakkai provided the fundamental support for the Gosho’s
publication, he is having the study department of the
priesthood begin the publication of a new Gosho.
The current Gosho Zenshu (the complete collection of the
Daishonin’s Writings) was published at the request
of Mr. Toda and through the efforts of Nichiko Shonin,
who was then 86 years old. How much painstaking effort
he must have made. He said that he cried with joy when
the transcript was completed.
While it would be natural to make corrections if there
were any typographical errors in this great high priest’s
achievement, as one of Nichiko Shonin’s disciples,
I can never forgive these recent actions, which show a
total disregard for his accomplishments.
Furthermore, in local temples, under the pretext of both
the 700th anniversary of Nichiren Daishonin’s passing
(1981) and the 700th anniversary of the founding of the
head temple (1990), many temples were newly built or remodeled.
In each new Gohonzon room, Nikken replaced those Gohonzon
that had been petitioned by President Ikeda [which bear
Mr. Ikeda’s name as the petitioner] with a Gohonzon
that was made by Nikken himself. This was another attempt
to erase evidence of the SGI President’s achievements.
The number of temples in which the Gohonzon was replaced
reached several dozen. At my temple, Daikyo-ji, I felt
it natural and ideal to protect the Gohonzon petitioned
by President Ikeda to whom we owe a deep debt of gratitude.
In the end, I was able to protect that Gohonzon.
I believe the cause of Nikken’s attitude is the
fact that he grew up as an overprotected, only child who
never experienced hardship. Nikken’s mother, Myoshu
Ama (nun), did not treat Nikken as a child but spoiled
him and treated him as though he was already a senior
priest. He did not experience hardship when he joined
the Navy, either. After World War II, he rebuilt Hongyo-ji
as its chief priest by using lumber from the head temple.
Another important point is that his wife, Masako, was
also trained by Myoshu Ama. She was brought up under the
same framework of values as was Nikken and increasingly
contributed to Nikken’s arrogance.
One priest mentioned an interesting point: “Nikken
was born in 1922, exactly 700 years after the Daishonin’s
birth. That is why he is convinced that he is a ‘child
of mission’ or a ‘special child.’”
He doesn’t listen to what others say. He is always
saying “I, I, I.” Since his youth he has never
experienced hardship and that is why he doesn’t
understand the struggle for kosen-rufu. Neither can he
understand the difficulties President Ikeda has had, nor
how much the Soka Gakkai has struggled. Although he has
praised President Ikeda at many ceremonies, it was just
tacked onto the end of his speech.
On the other hand, Nittatsu Shonin praised President Ikeda’s
achievements and what they meant based on the Gosho. However,
I am sure that Nikken has never spoken of President Ikeda’s
achievements on the basis of the Gosho.
The worst instance in which Nikken acted against the intent
of earlier high priests was when he erected a tombstone
in honor of his ancestors at a Zen temple in Fukushima
on July 17, 1989. The next day, Nikken attended a completion
ceremony at Kairen-ji (a Nichiren Shoshu temple in Fukushima).
In fact, my son was the chief priest of Kairen-ji at the
time.
I arrived in Fukushima one day early to prepare for the
completion ceremony. I ran into Nikken and his group at
the hotel where I was staying. His wife Masako and his
daughter Yuriko were also there. I was surprised to see
[Nikken’s family members] because they were not
scheduled to attend the completion ceremony.
Now I realize that Nikken had just returned to the hotel
after attending a ceremony at the Zen temple and then
a party. I thought that running into Nikken there would
have been awkward for him, so we tried to stay out of
sight. The next morning I saw him at breakfast in the
hotel restaurant. This time I greeted him, but he replied
in a confused manner. Waving his hand [in a gesture of
dismissal], he said: “Don’t worry. This is
a private party, so you need not concern yourself with
us.”
Even though Kofu-ji (a Nichiren Shoshu temple) is in Fukushima,
Nikken found it necessary to install a tombstone for his
family at the Zen temple grounds, surrounded by older
and smaller tombs, in order to display his power. This
is why he secretly imported $44,000 worth of stone directly
from Sweden to build the tombstone. This incident reflects
Nikken’s true nature, which is controlled by secular
trends, his desire to flaunt his money and his need to
be the center of attention. None of his actions in this
matter were based upon faith.
One might think that priests within Nichiren Shoshu would
have spoken up not only about the Zen temple incident,
but about other scandalous behavior on his part as well.
Yet although there might have been those who viewed Nikken
as immoral, Gestapo-type tactics were set forth in order
to prevent them from speaking out. If we as priests were
to speak ill of Nikken in conversations even with our
wives while at the temple, it soon became common knowledge.
Those priests who excel at espionage always watch the
words and actions of the chief priests and their wives
and report to Nikken in order to distinguish themselves
in his eyes.
Recently, not only the acolytes but also youthful chief
priests have been driven to watch other priests. In fact,
Gikei Sakaguchi, who used to be the chief priest of Shoko-ji
temple in Kofu and also Koshin Propagation District chief,
was demoted in October to a lodging at Myoren-ji temple
in Shizuoka Prefecture.
I heard this happened because of secret information from
a young chief priest in the same propagation district.
In addition, the sect assigns younger assistant priests
to older priests who know of Nikken’s past in order
to watch them closely. In this way, Nikken’s “spy
priests” are placed in each of the propagation districts,
and the web of espionage grows thicker and thicker.
The rendezvous point for these “spy-priests”
is Hokyo-in seminary in Shibuya, Tokyo. There, they bring
information from their temples and exchange opinions.
Hokyo-in seminary was established by Nikken to counter
Soka University, which was established by President Ikeda.
He considers it his university. In reality, however, it
has become a training ground for young priests loyal to
Nikken who are willing to do his bidding in the form of
espionage against their peers—a kind of secret police
force like the Nazi S.S.
The truth is that there would be no prosperity of the
head temple Taiseki-ji or global propagation of the Daishonin’s
teachings without the Soka Gakkai. Nichiren Shoshu owes
a great debt of gratitude to the Soka Gakkai.
I entered the priesthood in 1949 when I was a freshman
in high school. At that time, people seldom visited Taiseki-ji.
I had to go to Uwagawa on the other side of the Mieido
and work to reclaim and farm the land. There were times
when we didn’t have enough to eat or wear. I had
no hope for the future. Although I was the son of a priest
at the Jakunichi-bo (the highest ranked lodging hall)
at Taiseki-ji, I could not afford the examination fee
to enter a university, so I went to work as a substitute
teacher for one year.
After World War II, the head temple was losing its land
little by little because of the Agricultural Land Reform
Policy, and the financial condition of the priesthood
was growing worse. Eventually, the priesthood even proposed
the idea of opening the head temple to tourists for sight-seeing,
charging a fee.
Local temples also had difficulties during that time.
My wife was the daughter of Chief Priest Gikan Hayase
of Tsuchiura, Ibaragi Prefecture. To supplement his livelihood,
he worked at a post office and a clothing store. His position
as a priest seemed like a second job. Some priests from
the head temple conducted funerals for believers of other
sects at the request of neighborhood associations. Although
it is already well known that parishioners of the head
temple have little faith and act against the teachings
of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, many priests as
well were shamelessly committing such transgressions at
that time. Soka Gakkai members, however, were dedicating
their lives for the sake of kosen-rufu and the protection
of Nichiren Shoshu even though they themselves led difficult
lives. Compared to the members’ efforts, those of
the priests were superficial. From another angle, the
head temple showed no passion for kosen-rufu and forgot
the strict spirit to refute slander.
It was the Soka Gakkai that saved the priesthood from
serious deterioration. The shakubuku campaigns by the
Soka Gakkai advanced kosen-rufu, promoted the refutation
of slander and increased participation in Gohonzon-receiving
(gojukai) ceremonies like never before. Above all, the
head temple was able to develop and prosper because President
Toda promoted and suggested the Soka Gakkai pilgrimage
(tozan) system, contributed funds to repair the Five-Story
Pagoda and donated the Hoanden and the Grand Lecture Hall.
However, even though the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood was
given so much help, there were few at the time who understood
that worldwide kosen-rufu could not be completed without
the Gakkai, except former High Priest Nichiko Hori, former
High Priest Nissho Horigome, and the head of General Affairs
Hosoi (who later became Nittatsu Shonin, the 66th high
priest). At least 90% of the people in the priesthood
regarded the Gakkai as troublesome.
I think the priesthood failed to make an effort to understand
the Soka Gakkai because of a conceited belief that those
who wear priestly robes are superior to others. In addition,
I suspect that the priesthood’s anti-Gakkai sentiment
stems in part from the Ogasawara incident.
On April 27, 1952, the 700th anniversary of the establishment
of Nichiren Shoshu was celebrated. I was then living at
the Jakunichi-bo at the head temple. Although Jimon Ogasawara
lived at the Honkyo-bo across the way, he happened to
come to the Jakunichi-bo, where he saw some Hokkeko members
from Owari. That’s when I became a witness.
Some people mistakenly believe that this incident was
one of the Soka Gakkai youth division unfairly putting
a priest on trial. However, it was actually a debate concerning
the heretical doctrine of shinpon busshaku [the doctrine
that Shinto represents the “true entity” while
the Buddha is its transient aspect, which Ogasawara promoted
before and during the war in order to ingratiate himself
with the military authorities].
The youth division grilled Ogasawara about his culpability
in spreading this heretical doctrine within the priesthood.
President Toda also came later and said to me: “We
will never use violence. We just want him to apologize.
Please observe as a witness.” But Ogasawara was
old and hard of hearing. Because he could hardly get the
point, the youth division had to speak loudly. That’s
why they might have seemed high-handed. But I can verify
that the Soka Gakkai never used force.
However, the priesthood insisted that the youth division
members used violence toward a priest. The priesthood
held an assembly and decided to punish President Toda
as a warning. As punishment, President Toda was:
1. Required to submit a written apology through the local
temple.
2. Dismissed as chief lay representative (daikoto).
3. Prohibited from visiting the head temple.
[Similar actions were taken against President Ikeda at
the beginning of the current dispute.]
As soon as this punishment was announced, youth division
members, including President Ikeda, visited each member
of the Nichiren Shoshu Council throughout Japan and negotiated
with them to withdraw the punishment. I think some priests
thought poorly of these actions and developed anti-Soka
Gakkai sentiments from then on.
As the expression goes, many priests couldn’t “see
the forest for the trees.” They never clearly grasped
the true story or the real problem. They saw only the
surface. Moreover, publicly criticizing a fellow priest
was out of the question.
After the Ogasawara incident, whenever a problem arose
between Nichiren Shoshu and the Soka Gakkai, anti-Gakkai
sentiment gushed forth like a geyser from many priests.
The feeling of “persecution paranoia” has
increased because of the perception [when the Gakkai would
point out transgressions and laxity on the part of the
priesthood prior to the current situation ] that “the
Gakkai is attacking priests again.” This is why
I think that the Ogasawara incident is one source of the
anti-Gakkai attitude within the priesthood.
It is well known that when Nikken was chief priest of
Hongyo-ji temple he had already started forming a danto
group. When the Ogasawara incident occurred, Nikken was
already maneuvering behind the scenes. That was the time
when the youth division visited each member of the Council
throughout Japan to ask them to rescind President Toda’s
punishment. At Myoko-ji temple in Shinagawa, Tokyo, where
I worked, the assistant priest, Kocho Kakinuma, disagreed
with the withdrawal of the punishment. He had received
numerous phone calls from Nikken. I think Nikken thought
it was a good opportunity to be recognized as an anti-Soka
Gakkai priest.
After that, Nikken received support from other anti-Gakkai
priests and was elected as a member of the Council in
1955, though he was still young. He was willing to say
whatever it took to ensure his personal success.
Nikken was involved in many other schemes. One of them
concerned the chapter on persecution in The Essential
Writings of the Fuji School, which was compiled by former
High Priest Nichiko. In this work, Nichiko Shonin stated
that the suppression by the military government that the
Soka Gakkai had to endure before World War II was much
greater in scale and intensity than other persecutions
in the history of Nichiren Shoshu.
Therefore, he recorded the incident in the chapter on
persecution as an example for posterity to follow. Nikken
seemed disgruntled by this.
Nikken talked about former High Priest Nichiko with contempt,
saying he regarded the former high priest as “merely
a scholar,” at the August training seminar for the
priest teachers. I believe he had been harboring these
feelings for a long time.
The late high priest Nichiko praised first President Makiguchi
by calling him “a person who surpasses a common
priest.”
I believe that Nikken, who lacks depth and caliber, will
never understand the true value of the contributions by
members of the Soka Gakkai. Second president Toda dealt
strictly with arrogant or corrupt priests, but nobody
embraced the priests as warmly as Mr. Toda did, nor strove
for the unity of priesthood and laity as sincerely. Every
New Year’s Day, Mr. Toda kindly invited the acolytes
of the local temples in Tokyo to the Soka Gakkai headquarters
building and treated them to a feast. I had been working
for Myoko-ji temple since 1951 and was treated to such
feasts as one of the “people who would shoulder
the future of Nichiren Shoshu.”
President Ikeda established the Eikokai (Glory Group),
a group consisting of youthful priests, and took good
care of them.
If the Soka Gakkai did not treasure the priesthood, President
Ikeda and second president Toda would not have warmly
supported the priesthood as they so clearly did.
It is a fact that young men’s division members raised
contributions for Ogasawara and took care of him after
he showed remorse and repented of advocating his erroneous
doctrines.
To be continued.
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(Previously published in The
SGI-USA Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 3, April 19, 1993)
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