"The Soka Gakkai is the most well-known and the largest of new religious movements (NRMs) in Japan. This book analyzes the history of the SGI-USA(Soka Gakkai International-USA) and the Soka Gakkai’s evangelizing in the U.S. from a sociological perspective of religion. How did the Japanese Soka Gakkai come to be accepted by Americans and take root in American society in the U.S., a country with a very different culture and religion? How was Nichiren Buddhism accepted in the U.S. in the midst of the postwar hippie culture? How was the faith transmitted to the United States by the Japanese and Nikkei who played a central role in the missionary work? The authors’ 15 visits to the U.S., in which they participated in local events of the organization and interviewed more than 70 SGI members in the U.S., revealed these questions and provides a bird's-eye view of the transformation of the Soka Gakkai in Japan since the period of rapid growth. This book is the English translation of “America Soka Gakkai 〈SGI-USA〉 no 55 nen”(2017, Shinyosha Ltd.).

Publisher: Osaka University Press
Author:
Dr. Yutaka AKIBA is Professor of Graduate School of Sustainable System Sciences, Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan. He studied religion and social research method at Osaka University and obtained his Ph.D. in Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University in 2003. He is the author of several English papers and Japanese books on religions.