Shinichi yamamoto daisaku ikeda biography

SGI Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda shared his views on how to approach studying the epic series, writing:

As time goes by, the number of people who have first- hand knowledge of the events depicted in the novel will become smaller and smaller. Their testimonies are invaluable, but it is even more important that, through The New Human Revolution, the history of kosen-rufu and the Soka Gakkai spirit are transmitted, together with Sensei’s heart, eternally from generation to generation. (January 2019 Living Buddhism, p. 36)

Together, we can learn about the thoughts and actions of Shin’ichi Yamamoto as he opened the way for kosen-rufu around the world, toward Oct. 2, the 60th anniversary of global kosen-rufu, and beyond.

Instagram users can click here to listen to a sample of volume 5!

This excerpt from The New Human Revolution depicts an exchange during a discussion meeting with the novel’s protagonist, Shin’ichi Yamamoto (whose character represents President Ikeda), on his first visit to Brazil in October 1960. Here, he warmly encourages a Japanese migrant struggling to make a living as a farmer.

A man in his early 40s introduced himself stiffly, with the formality of a soldier standing at attention, announcing: “I’m a farmer!”

“Please, relax,” said Shin’ichi. “This isn’t the army. We’re all friends, all a family. Just relax as you would at home.”

The members present laughed. A bright smile lit the man’s sunburnt face.

He then explained that he had recently started farming vegetables, but his crop had failed, leaving him heavily in debt. He wanted to know what he could do to overcome the situation.

“What was the reason for your crop failure?” Shin’ichi asked.

“I think it might have been partly due to the weather,” the man replied.

“Are there other farmers growing the same vegetables as you who produced a successful crop?”

“Yes, but most people’s crops failed.”

“Was there some problem with the fertilizer you used?”

“I’m not really sure . . . .”

“Was there a problem with the way you tended your crop?”

Silence.

“What about the suitability of the soil for the kind of vegetables you were trying to grow?”

“I don’t know . . . .”

The man couldn’t reply satisfactorily to any of Shin’ichi’s questions.

As a farmer, he was clearly working hard and trying to do the best he could. But so was everyone else. He was unaware of his own complacence in thinking that what he had been doing was enough.

Shin’ichi began to speak in a penetrating tone: “First, it is vital that you thoroughly investigate the cause that led to your crop failure so that you don’t make the same mistake again. You might want to talk with farmers who have been successful and take note of what

This historical novel in six volumes portrays the development of the Soka Gakkai in Japan, from its rebirth in the post-World War II era to the last years of its second president, Josei Toda, whom the author regards as his spiritual mentor.

The Soka Gakkai is a lay Buddhist organization rooted in the teachings of 13th-century Buddhist reformer Nichiren. It was through Toda’s leadership that the organization in Japan experienced its most dramatic growth. In telling the story of the Soka Gakkai, the author—who appears in the novel as Shin’ichi Yamamoto—renders a sensitive biography of the late Toda and his Buddhist-inspired message of empowerment and engagement.

Throughout every event and anecdote runs an essential motif: how a change of heart in even one individual—a “human revolution”—can effect change in an entire society.

These early years of the Soka Gakkai in Japan laid the foundation for what today is the worldwide movement Soka Gakkai International of more than 12 million members in 190 countries and territories.

Besides English, The Human Revolution is also available in Japanese, French, Portuguese, German, Spanish, traditional and simplified Chinese, Korean, Italian and Dutch.