Daisaku Ikeda and the Four Seasons of Soka University

Photo

• Ikeda shooting a photo at the Central Tower (January 2001)

In the far distance,
rising into the azure sky,
Mount Fuji clothed in white.
 
Oh, Hachioji!
Place of music,
of poetic artistry.
(“Standing Among the Ruins of Takiyama Castle (Takiyama Joshi ni Tachite)” poem by Ikeda) 

The University founder, Daisaku Ikeda has visited this place numerous times ever since the mid-1960s to this day when Tangi-machi, Hachioji City was chosen as the University site. Inspired by the land, he has created countless poems and took photos despite his busy schedule.
His works were messages of encouragement to many people including the Soka University students, faculty, and staff members.
Here, we will present some of his works and how Ikeda chose this land rich in nature as the construction site of the University.

The fragrant breeze of May blows through the campus.
The colorful azaleas are as if competing over their beauty.
The lush verdure is brimming with youth.
“Gaku wa Hikari (Learning is Light)” essay by Ikeda

May 2004
Ikeda captured countless spring on campus with his camera as depicted as “Hills bloom in red azaleas, and among them, pure-white butterflies dance in joy” in the Soka University Student Song.

I remember each individual student.
I am watching over them all with a gaze that is turned to the infinite skies of the twenty-first century.
(The First Soka University Graduation Ceremony, Essay – The New Human Revolution)   

July 1984
For more than 20 years since the founding of the University, Ikeda used to gaze over the campus to behold and encourage the students from the Humanities Building (Building A) which was the central facility of the campus then.

In my heart I am always
together with the students of Soka University,
walking where they walk,
pausing where they pause,
breathing the air they breathe.
(“Standing Among the Ruins of Takiyama Castle (Takiyama Joshi ni Tachite )” poem by Ikeda)

November 2016
The Sodai-mon Gate against a background of colorful autumn leaves captured by Ikeda

“Hotaru no hikari, mado no yuki (glow of fireflies and reflection from the snow) ―― It was the most wonderful and ideal graduation ceremony.
It is said that “snow is a message from the universe.” I believe that the snow today is a message of blessing from the universe to you.
(Ikeda’s speech at the 18th graduation ceremony)

March 1992
On the day of the 18th graduation ceremony, the Hachioji campus was covered in unseasonable spring snow. Ikeda referred to the weather as “a message of blessing from heaven” in his speech addressing the graduates.

Hachioji – the ideal land for the mentor and disciple

“This is the area where I would like to build our fortress of value-creating (soka) education someday”

Ikeda never forgot the words he heard from his mentor Mr. Josei Toda (the second President of Soka Gakkai) in a bus on the way to a youth seminar held in Hikawa, Tokyo in September 1954. They were passing through the area near where Soka University campus is located today.
  
Ikeda’s Ideal Environment for building a campus
Following the announcement of the plan to build Soka University in 1964, the search for the building site began. Among the several candidate sites, the hills of Tangi-machi, Hachioji City, where the campus now stands, best met the four ideal conditions of a campus environment that Ikeda had in mind.
 
The four ideal conditions Ikeda listed for building a campus

1. Spacious land blessed with rich nature
2. Land with a view of Mt. Fuji
3. Away from the bustle of central Tokyo and a little cold in the winter
4. Land with good transportation access to central Tokyo

Photo

Photo of Toda and Ikeda taken at an outdoor seminar in Yamanashi (May 1955)
 

My dear successor,
I cannot but remember my mentor
Pointing to this land,
Sharing his abounding passions
(Tentative transltation of Waka poem written by Ikeda to retain how and why Soka University was constructed on this land)

Monument of “Origin of Soka University” situated in front of the Central Tower
The monument of the “Origin of Soka University” was established in the forecourt of the Central Tower after its completion in 2000, to remember that it all started from here from Roman-no-oka (Hill of Romance). This place was where Ikeda contemplated the establishment of Soka University gazing over the site, when it was nothing but a hill in the wilderness.

At the top of Roman-no-oka (Hill of Romance) 
Roman-no-oka where the Central Tower stands today is of the highest altitude on the site of the campus. Ikeda viewed the whole site from this spot to envisage the future campus of Soka University.
 
“When the founder came to visit the site, he stood still on this hill gazing toward the direction where the Main Gate stands now and contemplated for a long time.”
“In retrospect, I think he must have been envisioning a grand plan for building a center of Soka Education, culture and peace that we see before our eyes today.” (Speech by Okayasu, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees (then) at the inauguration ceremony of the Central Tower)

Photo

• Ikeda viewing the building site (September 1966)

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