History of the Soka Gakkai–Part 1 March 21, 2010
Posted by sgict in : Uncategorized , trackbackThe January 2010 issue of the SGI Quarterly features the first of a four-part series examining the history of the Soka Gakkai and its efforts to revitalize Buddhism by creating a global humanistic movement which can contribute to the happiness and empowerment of all people.
![Toda, standing, and Makiguchi in 1930 [©Seikyo Shimbun]](http://www.sgiquarterly.org/assets/images/Jan2010/24a.jpg "Toda, standing, and Makiguchi in 1930 [©Seikyo Shimbun]")
On November 18, 1930, a relatively unknown Japanese elementary schoolteacher called Tsunesaburo Makiguchi published the first volume of The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy, which outlined the child-centered educational philosophy he had developed through his many years of engagement in education. The publisher was listed as the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, and publication of the book is considered to mark the foundation of what later became the Soka Gakkai.
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi was born in 1871 in present-day Niigata Prefecture on the west coast of Japan. When he was 13, he moved to Hokkaido. Working to support himself while he studied, at 18 he gained entrance to the local teacher training college. Upon graduation he began working at the elementary school affiliated with the college. He had long been interested in the teaching of geography, and in 1903 published his first major work, The Geography of Human Life, which emphasized the vital links between human beings and their natural environment. He later served as a teacher and principal in elementary schools around Tokyo.
In 1928, at age 57, he encountered the Buddhist philosophy of Nichiren (1222-82), which he began to practice. Josei Toda, a young teacher from Hokkaido who had been working under Makiguchi since the early 1920s, also began practicing Nichiren Buddhism around this time.
The rest of the story continues here.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the Soka Gakkai.
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