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       Daisaku Ikeda, Who Led Influential Japanese Buddhist Group, Dies at 95

       He grew Soka Gakkai International’s following over two decades and helped create a coalition partner for the country’s dominant Liberal Democratic Party.

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       Daisaku Ikeda in 1985. He led Soka Gakkai beginning in 1960 when he was 32 and broadened its reach to include more followers outside of Japan. Credit...The Asahi Shimbun, via Getty Images

       By Motoko Rich

       Reporting from Tokyo

       Nov. 29, 2023

       Daisaku Ikeda, the president of Soka Gakkai International, the global arm of a Buddhist movement in Japan that spawned an influential political partner to the country’s governing party, died on Nov. 15 at his home in Tokyo. He was 95.

       His death was confirmed by Soka Gakkai in a statement.

       Mr. Ikeda (pronounced ee-KEH-da) was the third leader of that Buddhist association, which was established in 1930 and is Japan’s largest organized religious group. He was its honorary president at his death.

       In his two decades at the helm, beginning in 1960, Mr. Ikeda was credited with broadening the group’s appeal; it says it now has followers in 192 countries, including more than 8 million households in Japan and 2.8 million members in the rest of the world.

       His biggest legacy was in leading Soka Gakkai into parliamentary politics with the formation of a political party, Komeito, or Clean Government, in 1964. The party, which Soka Gakkai says is now independent of the religious organization, has been a coalition partner for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party since 1999. Relying on a base of electoral volunteers who can tap into Soka Gakkai’s membership, Komeito regularly delivers a bloc of voters to help shore up the ranks of the Liberal Democrats, who have governed Japan for all but four years since 1955.

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       Motoko Rich is a reporter in Tokyo, leading coverage of Japan for The Times. More about Motoko Rich

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