Soka Gakkai

Soka Gakkai (Japanese: 創価学会, Hepburn: Sōka Gakkai; "creating value study group") is a Japanese new religion founded in 1930 based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren. The Sōka Gakkai has been led by Minoru Harada since December 2023. The organization bases its teachings on Nichiren's interpretation of the Lotus Sutra and places chanting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō at the center of devotional practice. The Soka Gakkai is a community-based Buddhist organization that promotes peace, culture, and education based on the respect for dignity of life.

The Soka Gakkai was founded by educators Makiguchi and Toda on 18 November 1930 as Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Society for Value-Creating Education). It was later named the Soka Gakkai. It held its inaugural meeting in 1937. It was disbanded during the Second World War when much of the leadership was imprisoned for violations of the 1925 Peace Preservation Law and charges of lèse-majesté. In 1945, Toda began rebuilding the Soka Gakkai after his release from prison. Daisaku Ikeda was the third president of the Soka Gakkai and the founding president of the Soka Gakkai International. In Japan, Komeito is a political party that was founded in 1964 by Daisaku Ikeda to represent diverse public interests and fight corruption, as an alternative to political parties backed by labor unions and big corporations.

From an academic perspective, Levi McLaughlin argued in his 2018 book that, in Japan, the Soka Gakkai functions as a "mimetic nation-state," reproducing the institutions and narratives of modern Japan.

As of 2025, the Soka Gakkai says it has 8.25 million member households in Japan. American academic Levi McLaughlin estimated in 2018 that membership is under 4 million.

In 2010, Soka Gakkai was noted as having a turbulent history in Japan. Komeito, a political party closely aligned with Soka Gakkai and founded by elements of its lay membership, entered a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democratic Party in 1999 and was formerly a junior partner in government until the coalition's dissolution in 2025. Soka Gakkai has been described as a cult.