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Soka Gakkai

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Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions

Part of the book series: Religions of the World ((REWO))

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Definition

Soka Gakkai International (Value Creation Society; also SGI) is a lay Japanese religious movement based on Nichiren Buddhism. It was founded in Japan in 1930 and now has over 12 million members in 190 countries. The Latin American umbrella organization for SGI was founded in 1960 in Brazil and since then has been expanding, being considered nowadays one of the largest Buddhist groups.

Introduction

Soka Gakkai International (Value Creation Society), the largest lay Buddhist organization in Japan, began in 1930 as a lay association of Nichiren Shoshu, one of several denominations tracing its origins to Nichiren (1222–1282). Soka Gakkai has been studied in the context of the Japanese new religious movement, and the schism that divided it from Nichiren Shoshu in 1991 has drawn even more attention to the organization. So far Soka Gakkai has been the most successful Japanese new religious movement, not only in Japan but also in non-Japanese communities overseas. Soka Gakkaiis...

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References

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Correspondence to Suzana Ramos Coutinho .

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Ramos Coutinho, S. (2019). Soka Gakkai. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Religions of the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27078-4_114

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