What Is Soka Gakkai? >Professor Kitano, PHD Tells Us
Cult Watchers International
http://www.cebunet.com/sgi/bbc.htm
Here are is an excerpt:
PROF. HIROHISA KITANO (Professor of law at Nihon
University): Nobody knows actually how rich Soka Gakkai is.
Experts estimate Soka Gakkai has more than 1,000 properties
throughout Japan with total assets of more than 10,000 billion
yen (125 billion U.S. dollars).
BBC: An investigation into Soka Gakkai's gravestone business
was triggered by the discovery of the yen equivalent of 1.2 million
(U.S.) dollars in a safe discarded in a scrap yard.
PROF. KITANO: A top member of Soka Gakkai said it
was his own, personal money, and that it had no connection with
Soka Gakkai. The tax office thought it strange, and they
started a full-scale investigation.
BBC: Tax investigators could find no trace of two French
nationals who supposedly sold the two Renoir paintings to
Mitsubishi. It appears to have been a double sale of the paintings
in which 11 million (U.S.) dollars went astray -- simply disappeared.
Japanese newspapers suggest that the money probably finished-up
in a political "slush-fund," and that Soka Gakkai is more
interested in pedaling political influence than it is in French
impressionism.
DAISAKU IKEDA: Our museum bought the Renoir masterpieces
for a very high price, but I knew nothing about it. If there
is a scandal, people always blame me.
No one was really made the scape-goat, although the authorities
raided the premises of art dealers to discover who did sell
the paintings, and to whom. And aIthough they confiscated
documents, and although Mitsubishi was ticked- off for dealing in
antiques without a license, and although inquiries went on for
months by official agencies and the press, nothing was resolved.
PROF. KITANO: Without finding what happened to the money,
the Japanese tax office stopped their investigation. We believe that this was the result of strong political pressure by Soka Gakkai.
*******************************
Professor Kitano was featured on the BBC report on the corruption and deviations of the
Soka Gakkai. He is a prominent and brilliant scholar and has a PHD in Law.
He is a senior Professor of law at Nihon University, Tokyo. He is a non-member.
I have the complete transcipt of this revealing BBC documentary:
http://www.cebunet.com/sgi/bbc.htm
"I personally know of Gakkai members who have disrupted NST events,
at Temples and in peoples homes.(and in airports) Some of these people I love
and respect a great deal, I do think however, that attending events (posing as a
member or not) of any organization with the sole purpose of creating a disturbance
is a poorway of making a point and is disrespectful."
Allan Saunders, SGI member
"it isn't worth spending a lot of money on spying on the Temple, since
so many people are willing to do it for free"
Chris Holte
Daisaku gave the orders:
"Let us proudly advance on the supreme road to Kosenrufu as we
BRING AN END to the [High Priest] Nikken sect"
WT, March 1, 1993, p. 4
Jedes Mittel für den Kampf!!!
SGI-Deutschland Memo 12-28-97
The Culties reply to their sensei:
The Soka Gakkai also has begun a campaign of harassment
against the priests. Rumors have been spread that the Taisekiji
Temple grounds are in disarray, with stray dogs wandering
about and robbers lurking in the shadows. Right-wing groups
park their sound trucks outside the temple and blast out their
criticism of the priests..."
Los Angeles Times, 12/16/91
"I know what the group does to people whom it
regards as its enemies. It's not safe for anyone
who dares to criticize it."
TIME - THE POWER OF SOKA GAKKAI
http://pathfinder.com/@@cQhxKQUA1N@02C68/time/international/1995/951120/japan.html
Ms. U witnessed four SGI senior leaders storm Bukkenji Temple.
She attempted to take a photograph of the vehicle that they
had arrived in. The four persons turned their attention on her
and charged her, knocking her into the air. When she hit the
ground, they brutally kicked and assaulted her. She suffered
multiple serious injuries, a broken hip and spinal fractures.
Shukan Jitsuwa 12/02/93
One member of the group of four monks and six followers
said they were verbally abused and punched by local members of
the Singapore Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist Association
(SNSBA) [Soka Gakkai Singapore].
The Straits Times - TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1991
"They tried to chase us when my sisters
went out. They came to our home to try to harass us. My former
friends told lies to get my phone number. When they called,
they said,‘You will go to hell, you will be unhappy’. Some were
subjected to physical violence. There was an order by Ikeda to
harass members who leave the cult."
Japan’s Rush Hour of The Gods
THE AUSTRALIAN MAGAZINE
http://www.cebunet.com/sgi/rushour.htm
..."a mob of Soka Gakkai members, marched into the Kaishinji temple during a
religious service. Shoving aside worshippers, they seized Yahiro and
Kashiwazaki. I thought I was going to die, recalls Yahiro, an
asthmatic. He almost did. A large man grabbed Yahiro by his necktie and lifted
him off the floor, and others took turns punching him until he passed out."
TIME Magazine November 20, 1995 Volume 146, No. 21
http://pathfinder.com/@@S4Ji*gUAlYDFN9mI/time/international/1995/951120/TIDE.HTM
"...several hundred Soka Gakkai members invaded his temple during a
service and beat him so severely that he was hospitalized for three months.
Yahiro's hospitalization in April 1991 brought to light a brewing battle..."
San Francisco Chronicle: - Japan Fears Another Religious Sect
http://www.sfgate.com/programs/srch_archive/srch_archive_wrap?unregistered=true&WAISdocFile=/WAISlink/chronicle/archive/1995/12/27/MN62956.DTL&WAISdbName=/doc_root/wais/chronicle/1995&WAISaction=retrieve&WAISdocID=0666914397+0+0+0&WAISheadline=PAGE
SGI corporate charter:
3.SGI shall respect and protect the freedom of religion and religious
expression.
7.SGI shall, based on the Buddhist spirit of tolerance, respect other
religions...
SOURCE: SGI Homepage
To reply by E-mail, please delete "nospam" on my address
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Ric A.
International) wrote:
BBC/Kitano: A Reliable Source of Information?
>I have the complete transcipt of this revealing BBC documentary:
>http://www.cebunet.com/sgi/bbc.htm
>
>Here are is an excerpt:
>
>PROF. HIROHISA KITANO (Professor of law at Nihon
> University): Nobody knows actually how rich Soka Gakkai is.
>Experts estimate Soka Gakkai has more than 1,000 properties
> throughout Japan with total assets of more than 10,000 billion
>yen (125 billion U.S. dollars).
>
>BBC: An investigation into Soka Gakkai's gravestone business
>was triggered by the discovery of the yen equivalent of 1.2 million
>(U.S.) dollars in a safe discarded in a scrap yard.
>PROF. KITANO: A top member of Soka Gakkai said it
>was his own, personal money, and that it had no connection with
>Soka Gakkai. The tax office thought it strange, and they
>started a full-scale investigation.
WHY DIDN'T ANYONE MENTION THE FOLLOWING?
Japan Economic Newswire
July 3, 1989, Monday
Headline: One Hundred Seventy Million Yen Abandoned Cash Owner Found
Dateline: Yokohama, July 3
A high-ranking official of the Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist
organization, owned the 170 million yen found in a garbage-dump in
Yokohama south of Tokyo on June 30, police said Monday.
Haruo Nakanishi, 60, of Edogawa ward, Tokyo, asked a transport company
in April to dispose of a safe, forgetting it contained bundles of
10,000 yen bills totaling 170 million yen, police said.
Police said they determined the money belonged to Nakanishi after
investigating commercial receipts relating to the money, adding they
would return the money to Nakanishi.
Police quoted persons close to Nakanishi as saying he had kept the
safe at an underground warehouse of the Seikyo Shimbun, official
newspaper of the Soka Gakkai, for many years. He earned the money
between 1965 and 1975 by selling souvenirs at the Taisekiji temple in
Shizuoka prefecture, they said.
Taisekiji temple is a sacred place for devotees of Soka Gakkai.
Nakanishi, who had forgotten that the money was in the safe, requested
the publishing-related transport company, Nihon Tosho Yuso, in April
to haul away the safe.
Nihon Tosho Yuso later forwarded the safe to Yokohama All Seiso, a
garbage disposal company, which dumped it in the garbage-dump.
Copyright 1989 Kyodo News Service
>BBC: Tax investigators could find no trace of two French
>nationals who supposedly sold the two Renoir paintings to
>Mitsubishi. It appears to have been a double sale of the paintings
> in which 11 million (U.S.) dollars went astray -- simply disappeared.
>
>Japanese newspapers suggest that the money probably finished-up
> in a political "slush-fund," and that Soka Gakkai is more
>interested in pedaling political influence than it is in French
> impressionism.
>
>DAISAKU IKEDA: Our museum bought the Renoir masterpieces
> for a very high price, but I knew nothing about it. If there
>is a scandal, people always blame me.
>
>No one was really made the scape-goat, although the authorities
> raided the premises of art dealers to discover who did sell
>the paintings, and to whom. And aIthough they confiscated
>documents, and although Mitsubishi was ticked- off for dealing in
>antiques without a license, and although inquiries went on for
> months by official agencies and the press, nothing was resolved.
>
>PROF. KITANO: Without finding what happened to the money,
> the Japanese tax office stopped their investigation. We believe that
> this was the result of strong political pressure by Soka Gakkai.
WHY DIDN'T ANYONE MENTION THE FOLLOWING?
Agence France Presse
May 27, 1993
Headline: Woman Arrested in Shady Art Deal Involving Renoir Paintings
Dateline: Tokyo
TOKYO, May 27 (AFP) - Prosecutors arrested a Tokyo ceramics dealer
Thursday for alleged corporate tax evasion in connection with a 3.6
billion yen (33 million dollar) art deal involving the sale of Renoir
paintings to Mitsubishi Corp.
Prosecutors said Reiko Tachibana, 52, is suspected of evading 77
million yen (706,000 dollars) in corporate tax on the 185 million yen
she made as a commission in the art deal.
Mitsubishi, a major Japanese trading company, paid 3.6 billion yen for
two Renoir paintings, "After the Bath" and "Young Girl Reading" in
March 1989.
Along with Tachibana's company, Art France, a Tokyo gallery, and three
businessmen were involved in the deal.
Mitsubishi said it had bought the two works from a pair of Frenchmen
via Art France but in 1990 the Tokyo taxation bureau found that the
Frenchmen were non-existent and began an investigation.
The bureau found that Art France, which originally told the tax
authorities it had sold the paintings for 2.13 billion yen, pocketed
another 400 million yen, while Tachibana and three businessmen got 770
million yen in kickbacks, leaving 300 million yen still unaccounted
for, news reports said.
The two paintings have since been resold to a museum affiliated with
the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai for 4.1 billion yen.
Copyright 1993 Agence France Presse
OR THE FOLLOWING from the Nihon Keizai
Shimbun, February 26, 1994. As referenced by Daniel Metraux
in The Soki Gakkai Revolution, 1994, pp. 95-96.
"In February, 1994, a Tokyo District court determined that the guilty
party was not the Soka Gakkai, but the Japanese agent, Tachibana
Reiko, who altered the receipt she received from the French seller and
gave to Mitsubishi Shoji, the Japanese concern that bought the
painting for Soka Gakkai. Tachibana is said to have used her huge
profit (70,000,000 yen) to pay of her debts."
>*******************************
>Professor Kitano was featured on the BBC report on the corruption and deviations of the
>Soka Gakkai. He is a prominent and brilliant scholar and has a PHD in Law.
... and an axe to grind? Or maybe just not too "brilliant".
>He is a senior Professor of law at Nihon University, Tokyo. He is a non-member.
Wasn't that BBC "documentary" prepared in 1995? Wow... what a crack
research team they must have - NOT!
Kenneth W. Burchell
(Ric A.) wrote:
I LOVE thee line of reasoning here. These SGI guys in Japan have so
friggin' much money (profiteered off the members) that they freakin'
FORGET THEY HAVE 170 MILLION YEN!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahaha. Therefore they
are the noble defenders of Buddhist humanism! hahahahaha. Ygads, tonites
posts are the funniest in WEEKS.
--
Ken Burchell
Nichiren Shoshu member
ke...@nidlink.com
Ric A.
Typical, act dumb and avoid the point, which was, is this a well
informed unbiased report by the BBC?
Ric A.
International) wrote:
>I have the complete transcipt of this revealing BBC documentary:
>http://www.cebunet.com/sgi/bbc.htm
>
>Here are is an excerpt:
>
>PROF. HIROHISA KITANO (Professor of law at Nihon
> University): Nobody knows actually how rich Soka Gakkai is.
>Experts estimate Soka Gakkai has more than 1,000 properties
> throughout Japan with total assets of more than 10,000 billion
>yen (125 billion U.S. dollars).
>
>BBC: An investigation into Soka Gakkai's gravestone business
>was triggered by the discovery of the yen equivalent of 1.2 million
>(U.S.) dollars in a safe discarded in a scrap yard.
>PROF. KITANO: A top member of Soka Gakkai said it
>was his own, personal money, and that it had no connection with
>Soka Gakkai. The tax office thought it strange, and they
>started a full-scale investigation.
Years earlier the following was published...
>BBC: Tax investigators could find no trace of two French
>nationals who supposedly sold the two Renoir paintings to
>Mitsubishi. It appears to have been a double sale of the paintings
> in which 11 million (U.S.) dollars went astray -- simply disappeared.
>
>Japanese newspapers suggest that the money probably finished-up
> in a political "slush-fund," and that Soka Gakkai is more
>interested in pedaling political influence than it is in French
> impressionism.
>
>DAISAKU IKEDA: Our museum bought the Renoir masterpieces
> for a very high price, but I knew nothing about it. If there
>is a scandal, people always blame me.
>
>No one was really made the scape-goat, although the authorities
> raided the premises of art dealers to discover who did sell
>the paintings, and to whom. And aIthough they confiscated
>documents, and although Mitsubishi was ticked- off for dealing in
>antiques without a license, and although inquiries went on for
> months by official agencies and the press, nothing was resolved.
>
>PROF. KITANO: Without finding what happened to the money,
> the Japanese tax office stopped their investigation. We believe that
> this was the result of strong political pressure by Soka Gakkai.
The following was also published years before the BBC "documentary"...
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, February 26, 1994, also published a report,
which is referenced by Daniel Metraux in The Soki Gakkai Revolution,
1994, pp. 95-96:
"In February, 1994, a Tokyo District court determined that the guilty
party was not the Soka Gakkai, but the Japanese agent, Tachibana
Reiko, who altered the receipt she received from the French seller and
gave to Mitsubishi Shoji, the Japanese concern that bought the
painting for Soka Gakkai. Tachibana is said to have used her huge
profit (70,000,000 yen) to pay of her debts."
So, my question is this: Was this BBC report well researched and
unbiased?
johnpetry
snip
You know I can understand how someone could forget about billions of Yen
like that. I earned 50 million dollars selling christmas cards door to
door for ten years between 1975 and 1985 and kept all the money stuffed
in mattress ever since. Imagine my embarrassment when I bought a new
mattress and they ahuled the old one away only to call me later to tell
me of the forgotten money! Gee was my face red!
johnpetry
> police investigated receipts related to the money, they determined
> that it was indeed earned by him, so they gave it back.
>
> The question is: Do you think the BBC report was well researched and
> unbiased?
So the point is that the guy said it belonged to him. In the story
being passed around about this a couple of years ago, there was mention
of undeclared income, improper sales activities, donations to a charity
and income tax investigations. In fact every time there are allegations
made concerning such shenanigans at the SGI, some person steps forward
and takes the blame, falling on their sword like a good little trouper.
Now that does trouble me. One possible explanation is to take their
admissions of guilt at face value. But then these stories seem to
regularly crop up and they always seem to be otherwise stalwart SGI
members. A cynical person might think that people are taking the rap
for sensei.
I cannot say how well researched or unbiased the BBC is. My impression
of them has always been that they were professionals. The account that
Ms. Toynbee provides is certainly related as first hand and I can
perceive no reason on her part to have any predisposition towards the
SGI. I have read accounts from others who have delved into the SGI
leadership's shenanigans as well. They always seem to have the same
impression, that something isn't quite right.
I do know that on occasions that I have attempted to research
information published by the SGI, I have found it very difficult to
verify individuals or events. Having access to a few resources that
many people do not have, I find it very surprising when I run a name for
example and nothing comes up that matches the information given. One
would expect state records and credit bureau records to show at least
some of the persons mentioned. I have tracked down people starting with
nothing more than a mention of their name in a 50 year old ship's
roster. Only once was I able to find a positive match to one of the
people identified in the "experiences" some people were posting here a
year or so ago. I contacted that person and asked here if she was the
person mentioned. I read the "experience" to her. She said she was not
that person and had never heard of the SGI. Then there are the facts in
the SGI broadsheet of the "imminent" NST-NShu "merger" that Kathy was
touting last year. None of that checked out either. So I am very
suspicious of SGI explanations of events, not that this means that I
believe whatever stories Craig chooses to repeated post here.
Ric A.
Craig Bratcher
>>snip
>You know I can understand how someone could forget about billions of Yen
>like that. I earned 50 million dollars selling christmas cards door to
>door for ten years between 1975 and 1985 and kept all the money stuffed
>in mattress ever since. Imagine my embarrassment when I bought a new
>mattress and they ahuled the old one away only to call me later to tell
>me of the forgotten money! Gee was my face red!
Ric Anderson explains:
Jon, so the guy's not a rocket scientist - who cares?
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
If the guy was a total retard and on medication, and not responsible
for his own actions I could understand how he could accidentally throw
1.7 Million USD in the trash. But by the same token, if he was such an
irresponsible idiot, then how the hell did he manage to make so much
money selling trinkets at a little store and save it all up?
The guy was a voluntary patsy. Even Chris Holte admitted that
there are many people who would even take a bullet for Daisaku.
Seems to me that whoever left that money behind the Soka Gakkai
newspaper headquarters had plenty where that came from otherwise they
would have taken better care of it. I wonder who was really supposed to
pick it up. I'll bet somebody was pissed off when they came to get it
and it wasn't there as promised...
The fact is that the Soka Gakkai left that money out in back of their building
for
somebody to pick up, and that somebody wasn't supposed to be the trash man.
But damn the efficiency of the Japanese sanitary technicians. Maybe the Soka
Gakkai shouldn't have left the safe there so close to the dumpster and this
whole mess wouldn't have happened.
Now go stick more pins in your voodoo dolls
Craig
http://www.cebunet.com/nst
http://www.cebunet.com/sgi
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Ric A.
<craig_b...@my-dejanews.com> wrote:
Craig Bolderdash says:
>Seems to me that whoever left that money behind the Soka Gakkai...
<SNIP>
Craig this is PURE speculation on your part. In reality: "Police said
they determined the money belonged to Nakanishi after investigating
commercial receipts relating to the money...". So they gave it back to
him. Why shoul anyone care what YOU think?
Ric A.
International) wrote:
>I have the complete transcipt of this revealing BBC documentary:
>http://www.cebunet.com/sgi/bbc.htm
>
>Here are is an excerpt:
>
>PROF. HIROHISA KITANO (Professor of law at Nihon
> University): Nobody knows actually how rich Soka Gakkai is.
>Experts estimate Soka Gakkai has more than 1,000 properties
> throughout Japan with total assets of more than 10,000 billion
>yen (125 billion U.S. dollars).
>
>BBC: An investigation into Soka Gakkai's gravestone business
>was triggered by the discovery of the yen equivalent of 1.2 million
>(U.S.) dollars in a safe discarded in a scrap yard.
>PROF. KITANO: A top member of Soka Gakkai said it
>was his own, personal money, and that it had no connection with
>Soka Gakkai. The tax office thought it strange, and they
>started a full-scale investigation.
Years earlier the following was published...
Japan Economic Newswire
July 3, 1989, Monday
Headline: One Hundred Seventy Million Yen Abandoned Cash Owner Found
Dateline: Yokohama, July 3
A high-ranking official of the Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist
organization, owned the 170 million yen found in a garbage-dump in
Yokohama south of Tokyo on June 30, police said Monday.
Haruo Nakanishi, 60, of Edogawa ward, Tokyo, asked a transport company
in April to dispose of a safe, forgetting it contained bundles of
10,000 yen bills totaling 170 million yen, police said.
Police said they determined the money belonged to Nakanishi after
investigating commercial receipts relating to the money, adding they
would return the money to Nakanishi.
Police quoted persons close to Nakanishi as saying he had kept the
safe at an underground warehouse of the Seikyo Shimbun, official
newspaper of the Soka Gakkai, for many years. He earned the money
between 1965 and 1975 by selling souvenirs at the Taisekiji temple in
Shizuoka prefecture, they said.
Taisekiji temple is a sacred place for devotees of Soka Gakkai.
Nakanishi, who had forgotten that the money was in the safe, requested
the publishing-related transport company, Nihon Tosho Yuso, in April
to haul away the safe.
Nihon Tosho Yuso later forwarded the safe to Yokohama All Seiso, a
garbage disposal company, which dumped it in the garbage-dump.
Copyright 1989 Kyodo News Service
>BBC: Tax investigators could find no trace of two French
>nationals who supposedly sold the two Renoir paintings to
>Mitsubishi. It appears to have been a double sale of the paintings
> in which 11 million (U.S.) dollars went astray -- simply disappeared.
>
>Japanese newspapers suggest that the money probably finished-up
> in a political "slush-fund," and that Soka Gakkai is more
>interested in pedaling political influence than it is in French
> impressionism.
>
>DAISAKU IKEDA: Our museum bought the Renoir masterpieces
> for a very high price, but I knew nothing about it. If there
>is a scandal, people always blame me.
>
>No one was really made the scape-goat, although the authorities
> raided the premises of art dealers to discover who did sell
>the paintings, and to whom. And aIthough they confiscated
>documents, and although Mitsubishi was ticked- off for dealing in
>antiques without a license, and although inquiries went on for
> months by official agencies and the press, nothing was resolved.
>
>PROF. KITANO: Without finding what happened to the money,
> the Japanese tax office stopped their investigation. We believe that
> this was the result of strong political pressure by Soka Gakkai.
The following was also published years before the BBC "documentary"...