by Los Angeles Pan-Pacific Zone team
What area does your zone serve?
We have the most incredible bodhisattvas practicing in 83 districts that span coastal areas from the scenic beach city of Malibu, to the north, to Long Beach, an urban hub with one of the busiest ports in the world, to the south.
Tell us about your zone’s history.
When Ikeda Sensei visited the U.S. for the first time in October 1960, he created six districts and the first chapter in Los Angeles. Thanks to the pioneering members who strove alongside Sensei, this movement swelled to 234 districts and 82 chapters in the greater metropolitan area by the SGI-USA’s 50th anniversary.
Shortly after, in January 2012, Los Angeles Zone was split into two zones to dynamically expand our movement of Buddhist humanism in the greater metropolitan area; Sensei named the two new zones Los Angeles Pan-Pacific Zone and Los Angeles Sunshine Zone.
In a March 2012 message, Sensei wrote to our newly formed zones: “The members of Los Angeles are the driving force behind kosen-rufu in America, and the heart of kosen-rufu around the world.
“Your city is a land of hope that merges diverse peoples and cultures. I ask that you please advance upon this stage of your chosen mission, as you proudly hold high the banner of humanism, peace and culture.”
Do you have a Buddhist center in your zone?
Yes, we are profoundly grateful to have four region centers: the SGI Pacific Peace Center (LA Coastal North Region) in Santa Monica; the Santa Monica Buddhist Center (LA Coastal South Region), which is farther east; the South Bay Buddhist Center (LA Beach Cities Region) in Torrance; and the Long Beach Buddhist Center (Long Beach Region).
Do you have a particular point of pride as a zone?
Starting in 2023, our zone began the tradition of ringing in the New Year at the World Culture Center, the location where 30 years earlier Sensei introduced his enduring poem to Los Angeles “The Sun of Jiyu Over a New Land,” which he said was “infused with a prayer for a solution to racial discrimination” (February 2023 Living Buddhism, p. 60). This launching point has enabled us to return every year to Sensei’s guidance to Los Angeles, foster capable successors and welcome many new members at the start of the year, leading in shakubuku.
With four region centers serving as a training ground for raising capable people, we also have four times the opportunities to foster youthful successors through the behind-the-scenes training groups Byakuren, Soka Group and Gajokai. The youth are our joy and pride!
As a zone, our monthly region Soka Family Day activities gather 200 participants on average, including many children ages 5 and under. Our pipeline, so to speak, of kosen-rufu protagonists stretches well into 2050, when we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sensei’s first steps in America.
Our future division teams take such great care to make these meetings a place the future division can call home. This is reflected in a comment a future division member shared with her father on the way home from Soka Family Day activity: “I love the center,” she said. When he asked her why, she responded, “Every time I go there, I’m treated like a princess.” The future division are, indeed, our treasures of kosen-rufu.
What is your zone vision toward 2030?
Although we have numeric milestones, our overarching goal, spearheaded by our zone youth leaders, is for all the members to practice joyfully and win by placing kosen-rufu at the center of their lives. In January, we found a calligraphy from Sensei at one of the region centers dated July 3, 1996, just days before he departed home after his final visit to the U.S. It reads:
All of us family
all of us comrades in faith
throughout the three existences.
Daisaku
With this awareness, we are determined to move one step closer each day to making Sensei’s vision for peace a reality in Los Angeles, the city of his dreams.
June 6, 2025 World Tribune, p. 10
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