At 28 years old, Ikeda Sensei spearheaded the Yamaguchi Campaign 70 years ago when no Soka Gakkai organization yet existed in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Dispatched by second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, Sensei developed the Yamaguchi organization through one-to-one faith encouragement, creating a groundswell for the spread of Nichiren Buddhism. In the following essay he recounts this historic campaign. It can be found in Making the Impossible Possible, pp. 78–79.
On Sept. 5, 1956, I was conferring with [second Soka Gakkai President Josei] Toda about the future of kosen-rufu. The focus of our discussion was Yamaguchi Prefecture in the Chugoku region of Japan. At the time, we had a membership of only a few more than 400 households there. Yamaguchi was the starting point of events that led to the Meiji Restoration and Japan’s subsequent modernization and had produced many of the nation’s leaders. Without a doubt, it would remain an important region in Japan.
Mr. Toda said to me: “Our organization in Chugoku is lagging furthest behind. Daisaku, I want you to go there and take the lead in giving guidance in faith and creating a groundswell of propagation.”
I immediately replied, “Yes, I will do my best!” This was the start of the historic Yamaguchi Campaign. I was 28 at the time.
That day, I wrote in my diary: “He [Mr. Toda] indicated that next month, there will be a full-scale propagation campaign in Yamaguchi Prefecture. I will take full responsibility. … I will fight like [Minamoto no] Yoshitsune[1] or [Takasugi] Shinsaku.[2] It will be a battle for the Law that shall go down in history.”
The Yamaguchi Campaign took place in three stages, in October, November and then the following January. Members from all over Japan who had some kind of connection with Yamaguchi courageously volunteered to take part.
Nichiren Daishonin writes, “[Chanting] Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many in body but one in mind … is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate Law of life and death” (“The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 217).
The true heritage of Buddhism pulses in united efforts to advance kosen-rufu. During the Yamaguchi Campaign, I encouraged our members with this passage. Over the course of 22 days, we expanded our membership in Yamaguchi to more than 4,000 households—an almost tenfold increase.
I wrote in my diary (on Jan. 28, 1957): “Will pour all my ability and effort into struggling to transform my destiny and lay the strategic groundwork for kosen-rufu.” And as that entry indicates, I gave my all to ensure the success of the Yamaguchi Campaign. I never just made a show of taking action.
The Yamaguchi Campaign was an earnest struggle to transform the resolve of our members in Yamaguchi and achieve a fresh breakthrough for kosen-rufu. At the same time, it had a more profound and broad-ranging purpose—to secure the future of the Soka Gakkai as a whole, as well as the future of Japan.
Mr. Toda was very happy with our triumph in Yamaguchi.
May 15, 2026 World Tribune, p. 40
References
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159–1189): Warrior of the latter Heian (794–1185) and early Kamakura (1185–1333) periods. A principal figure in the Taira–Minamoto War, and remembered as Japan’s tragic hero. ↩︎
- Takasugi Shinsaku (1839–1867): A young samurai warrior who contributed to the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1867) and advanced the Meiji Restoration (beginning 1867), which ended the feudal system and established a modern state of Japan under Emperor Mutsuhito. ↩︎
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