Daisaku Ikeda

Daisaku Ikeda (池田 大作, Ikeda Daisaku; 2 January 1928 – 15 November 2023) was a philosopher, peace-builder, SGI Buddhist leader, author, poet, educator and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, which is considered among the largest of Japan's new religious movements. The Soka Gakkai Japanese membership exceeds 8.27 million households. Between 2.5 million and 4 million people – approximately two to three percent of the Japanese population – are active members of Soka Gakkai. Ikeda was the founding president of the Soka Gakkai International, which garnered worldwide membership. The organization has approximately 12 million practitioners in 192 countries and territories, more than 1.5 million of whom reside outside of Japan as of 2012.

Ikeda was the founder of a variety of educational and cultural institutions including Soka University, Soka University of America, Min-On Concert Association and Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. In Japan, he was also known for his international outreach to China.