Educational Institutes Founded
Makiguchi Foundation for Education
Established in honor of first Soka Gakkai President and educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, the Makiguchi Foundation for Education is a non-profit fund that offers grants and scholarships for economically disadvantaged foreign students pursuing college education in Japan. The foundation also offered scholarships to around 50 Japanese nationals per year until 2003; by then, improvements to government- and publicly-funded scholarship programs had widely expanded opportunities for higher education in Japan and the program was suspended since the scholarship needs of the population it served were being met. The foundation continues to provide financial support for educational projects and institutions, donates books and classroom supplies, and recognizes educators and institutions that promote excellence in educational research and instruction.
Soka Schools
The Soka Junior and Senior High Schools established by Ikeda in Kodaira, Tokyo, in 1968, together with the founding of the Kansai Soka Junior and Senior High Schools five years later, represent the beginning of the development of the Soka School system, which today comprises kindergartens, elementary, and junior and senior high schools, a university in Japan and one in California, USA. Kindergartens have also been established in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Brazil.
The educational system is based on the pedagogy developed by founding Soka Gakkai President and educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. His belief that the core focus of education should be the lifelong happiness of the learner, his concern with the development of the unique personality of each child, and his emphasis on the importance of leading a socially contributive life describe the underlying ethos of Soka education today. [Kansai: www.kansai.soka.ed.jp; Tokyo (Japanese): www.tokyo.soka.ed.jp]
Soka University
In 1971, seven years after Ikeda announced plans to establish a university, the 870,000-square meter Soka University campus was dedicated in Hachioji, a suburb of Tokyo. Ikeda has described the founding mission of the university as the advancement of humanistic education, culture and peace.
Today, Soka University has academic exchange agreements with over 130 universities in 46 countries, and its foreign student exchange program--in which over 260 students from some 45 countries currently participate--ranks among the largest of its kind in Japan.
Soka University has a combined enrollment of around 8,400 as of May 2011, including 550 graduate students and 680 students at the two-year Soka Women's College (dedicated April 1985). As with every Soka School, the institution is open to all qualified students without regard to religious affiliation. [www.soka.ac.jp]
Soka University of America
Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, is a non-profit, co-educational university offering a comparative study of Eastern and Western perspectives integrated across a traditional liberal arts curriculum. SUA is open to students of all beliefs, committed to diversity in its academic community, and founded on the belief that student-centered education that fosters a global humanistic perspective of the world will advance the cause of lasting peace and lead to real solutions to humanity's most pressing issues. [www.soka.edu]
