re: #165 Barefoot Grin

It’s interesting that the LDP’s major coalition partner is Komeito, which was founded in the 1960s by members of the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. Komeito (or New Komeito, I guess) claims that it hasn’t had any formal relations with Soka Gakkai since the early ’70s, but analysts note that Soka Gakkai forms its major constituency and thus continues to be an arm of the religious organization. Anyway, in those terms SG’s influence over even LDP politics is far greater than UC (no trying to downplay the influence of UC).

Soka Gokkai is another group that raises the occasional eyebrow of some of my Japanese acquaintances. I know it’s an offshoot of Nichiren Buddhism, and I’ve heard Soka Gokkai described as “cultish”, but I know little about them aside from that. The only Japanese Buddhists I’m genuinely familiar with are Jōdo Shinshū Buddhists (IIRC, that’s the biggest school of Buddhism in Japan), which is a uniquely Japanese offshoot of Pure Land Buddhism.