Ikeda Research Institute for Soka Education
Issue 1/ Sept 18, 2021

Report onIkeda Studies in Education
PurposeStarting with this issue, the Ikeda Research Institutefor Soka Education (IRISE) of Soka University will
be responsible for the compiling and circulation ofthe Report on Ikeda Studies in Education. The
Report will continue to serve as an informationsharing tool for scholars and researchers of this fieldof study, with the aim of facilitating on a global basis
further advances in the research of and activities
relevant to Ikeda studies in education.

News UpdateSpain
IEDDAI of University of Alcalá in Spain releases“Cuadernos del Instituto Ikeda,” Vol. 3
On June 2021, the University of Alcalá’s Daisaku
Ikeda Research Institute for Education andDevelopment (IEDDAI) has released the third
volume of “Cuadernos del Instituto Ikeda,” theSpanish-language academic journal for Ikeda studies.
The latest issue features an article on an IEDDAI
symposium held in December 2020 that examined
Daisaku Ikeda’s annual peace proposals, along withsubmissions on diversity and creativity. The issue
also includes a reprint of Makiguchi’s Lifelong
Pursuit of Justice and Humane Values (Simon
Wiesenthal Center, 1996) in commemoration of the150th anniversary of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’s birth.
IEDDAI was established by the University of Alcalá,Spain in December 2018 with the cooperation ofSoka University. The Spanish university wasfounded in 1499, making it one of the oldest seats ofhigher learning in Europe; IEDDAI is the first on thecontinent engaged in Ikeda studies at the university
level.
Published on a biannual basis, “Cuadernos delInstituto Ikeda” will be including articles and papers,
primarily in Spanish, on IEDDAI’s research andactivities going forward.
JapanSoka kyoiku to ningenshugi published in JapanIn June 2021, the month Tsunesaburo Makiguchi
was born 150 years ago, publisher Daisanbunmeisha released Soka kyoiku to ningenshugi (tentativetranslation: Soka education and humanism) by
Hiroshi Watanabe, president of Sakushin Gakuin
University. The Soka Gakkai daily Seikyo Shimbun
also interviewed the author, which was publishedover two issues (August 7 and 10).
During his postgraduate research on the history ofeducational philosophy in Japan and theprosopography of Japanese educators, President
Watanabe learned of Makiguchi and closely
examined two of his seminal works, The System ofValue-Creating Pedagogy and The Geography ofHuman Life.
In Soka kyoiku to ningenshugi, the author writes thatMakiguchi’s ideas, which assign primacy on
education for the sake of learners over the interestsof the state, fully align with the pressing needs of thismodern age. He describes Soka education as “a vitaleducational legacy” and a treasured “resource in theannals of Japanese education” that continues toflourish, unchanged to this day.

Peru
The National University of San Marcos in Peru
publishes Ikeda studies bookThe university press of the National University ofSan Marcos (UNMSM) has published El humanismo
comprometido de Daisaku Ikeda: homenaje a su
vida y obra (tentative translation: Daisaku Ikeda’s
humanistic engagement: a tribute to his life andwork).
A study group led by Dr. Miguel Ángel Polo
Santillán to examine Daisaku Ikeda’s philosophy
initiated the collection of research papers that
resulted in the co-publishing of the latest work,
which is only available in Spanish.
El humanismo comprometido de Daisaku Ikeda iscomprised of two parts, with the first examining
Daisaku Ikeda’s perspectives on humanism, life anddeath and other topics through his peace proposals
and writings. The second part introduces, amongothers, his advocacy of and activities for theadvancement of education and contributions tosocial betterment by religion.
The UNMSM work includes research papers
submitted by students, alumni and Dr. Sigifredo
Alberto Burneo Sánchez,National University ofPiura. It also features a paper by Soka University’s
IRISE Vice Director Prof. Takao Ito, who examines
Daisaku Ikeda’s lectures on higher education and theprinciples that should underpin a universitycommitted to guiding and inspiring students to leada genuinely creative life.
Korea
Korea’s Kyung Hee University cohosts online
symposium on school founder and Daisaku Ikeda
with Korea-SGI
On July 16, the Choue-Ikeda Research Center at
Kyung Hee University (KHU) and Korea-Soka
Gakkai International partnered in the holding of thefifth academic symposium on the philosophy andpractices of KHU founder Dr. Young Seek Choueand Daisaku Ikeda. Held online, the symposium wasorganized under the theme, “Climate Crisis andWorld Peace.”

Four scholars from South Korea, China and Japan
presented papers. One of the paper presenters, Prof.
Young-Ae Ha, who heads the Choue-Ikeda ResearchCenter, introduced Dr. Choue’s educational
philosophy to realize harmony between humanity
and nature as well as his social activism, playing amajor role in establishing the UN International Dayof Peace.
In her presentation, Michiyo Kakegawa, a faculty ofeconomics associate professor at Soka University,elaborated on Daisaku Ikeda’s perspective that thekey to successful social reform lay in the spiritualreformation of the human being. The praxis of Soka
education is to foster global citizens who are awarethat humanity is a constituent element of nature andappreciate the interconnectedness of all living beings.

Daisaku Ikeda on Education
Building a Society That Serves the Essential Needsof Education: Some Views on Education in theTwenty-first Century（2000）

This Issue’s Selected Writings
Ikeda/Soka Studies in Education: A Review of theAnglophone Literature
Nozomi Inukai, DePaul University Institute for
Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education

Postscript⚫ We welcome comments regarding thisReport as well as suggestions on specificmaterial that it should feature in futureissues. Contact: Ikeda Research Institute forSoka Education (IRISE) of Soka University(IRISE-access@soka.ac.jp)⚫ This Report is issued on a bimonthly basis,
with the next release tentatively scheduled
for November 18, 2021