Josei Toda Josei Toda

About Josei Toda

Josei Toda, the second president of the Soka Gakkai, was born on February 11, 1900, in Ishikawa Prefecture, and shortly thereafter moved to Atsuta village in Hokkaido, where he spent his childhood. Like his predecessor Mr. Makiguchi, he worked his way through school, became a school teacher, and then, at the age of 20, moved to Tokyo. There, he learned of Mr. Makiguchi and his unique teaching methodology and sought to learn from him. At 23, he began managing a private school called Jishugakkan, where he put his mentor's educational theories into practice. During that period he published a textbook, Suirishiki Shido Sanjutsu (A Deductive Guide to Arithmetic), which sold over a million copies.

In 1928, Mr. Toda converted to Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism together with his mentor, Mr. Makiguchi. Two years later in 1930, he co-founded the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creation Education Society) with Mr. Makiguchi, who became its first president. Mr. Toda assumed the post of general director and, in support of his mentor, dedicated himself to the reform of education and religion. For more than two years of incarceration for "subversive" thoughts - war resistance and religious preference - he resisted state coercion. Studying the Lotus Sutra in his prison cell, he came to realize that "Buddhahood is life itself." ( "Buddha" is not some transcendental or supreme being but is a condition that all people equally possess - it is the ability to perceive the essence or ultimate reality of life .) That life-sustaining moment of insight, cultivated in the bleakest of circumstances, became the symbolic root of the rapid post-war development of Soka Gakkai.

After his release from prison on July 3, 1945, Mr. Toda found that the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai had been shattered. Devastation of war lingered in the total ruin of the land and in the demoralized condition of the Japanese people. In the midst of a society in utter turmoil, he renamed the organization Soka Gakkai and undertook the reconstruction of the organization and the morale of society. By May 3, 1951, when he was inaugurated as Soka Gakkai's second president, the membership was less than 3,000 households. Within seven years, the society was transformed into a nationwide religious movement, with a membership of over 750,000 households. Josei Toda died on April 2, 1958.
Previous | What is the Buddhism... | Back to Section Index | Next