Interview with David Kasahara, Excepts

The following article contains excerpts from the interview the newsletter Soka Justice conducted with Mr. David Kasahara, one of the precious pioneer members in New York. I am posting it (with some light edits) without the permission of the publishers of SJ.

(Soka Justice) Thank you so much for being willing to share your experiences with us today. We sincerely hope that our dialogue will help all of us to deepen our understanding of Soka Spirit and to strengthen the spirit of oneness of mentor and disciple relationship with President Ikeda. Could you share with us the brief history of Nichren Shoshu in New York?

Kasahara) On Jan. 26th 1980, the Nichiren Shoshu New York branch opened, and the opening ceremony took place both on the 26th and the 27th. Three years later in 1983, the completion ceremony of Shohozan Myosetsuji (Myosetsuji Temple) was held on December 2nd. In order to build this temple and to have a grand ceremony for its opening, SGI-NY members sincerely supported them from the very beginning.

SJ) Did SGI-NY have its own culture center separate from this temple then?

(Kasahara) Yes, it was located on the 19th street and Park Avenue South with 80 seats available for the members. SGI-NY had its own center since 1964, and that was 16 years before the Nichiren Shoshu branch opened in 1980. The first community center was located on the 75th street Westside, where we welcomed President Ikeda in 1967. Since then, our community center moved to several locations.

SJ) Have you ever witnessed malicious intentions of corrupt Nichiren Shoshu priesthood?

K) Going back to the completion ceremony of the Myosetsuji Temple, many priests from Japan, including the former High Priest Nikken Abe, attended this ceremony. The ceremony began with the gongyo (recitation of Lotus Sutra) and chanting of daimoku (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo). At that time, it was common for a Nichiren Shoshu priest to beat a drum while chanting Nam-myoho-renge kyo. On that day, a young priest was beating the drum while Nikken was leading gongyo, but the beat of the drum and the chanting were out of rhythm. Those who were chanting behind Nikken could tell he was getting frustrated due to this disunity. Yamada, the former Chief Priest of the Chicago Temple, eventually took over the beating of the drum, and it appeared to me that Yamada did so because he was afraid that Nikken would be very upset.

After gongyo, Nikken turned around and faced the audience to give a speech without moving from his position in front of the Gohonzon. As soon as he finished his speech, he turned his back to the audience again. Since he stayed that way for the remainder of the time, he did not see nor participate in the rest of the ceremony. This was how Nikken acted during the ceremony, and even SGI-NY members at that time accepted it as it was.

SJ) How arrogant were the priests! At SGI meetings, leaders are there to support members.

K) Yes. Furthermore, as soon as the ceremony was over, Nikken immediately stood up and left the Gohonzon room using the door which was reserved for only priests. After the ceremony was over, I heard from a few individuals who were standing in the yard doing Byakuren and Soka-group assignments that Nikken yelled at Rev. Gen-ei Kudo. Rev. Kudo was the former chief priest of the Los Angeles temple, who later left the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood immediately after the temple issue broke out. Nikken yelled at him using the vulgar Japanese words, “Bakayaro Fuzakeruna!” (Stupid! Idiot!).

Nikken then went outside to the yard where he was supposed to plant a commemorative tree together with the members. But instead of waiting for their arrival, Nikken planted the tree himself and threw the shovel on the ground and returned to the priest’s living quarters. This clearly showed that Nikken did not have the spirit to serve the members. Standing outside with some other people, we heard Nikken shouting, and it seemed that he was yelling at the priests out of frustration. One of the causes for his frustration may have been that the entire ceremony was held in English which Nikken does not speak. As you can see, he always had a self-centered attitude and short-tempered manner. He was easily swayed by his emotions.

SJ) Do you have any other experiences that depict the true nature of Nichiren Shoshu priests?

K) Jitoku Kawabe, a Senior Priest from Japan, was very close to Nikken. Kawabe took it upon himself to document Nikken’s comments whenever he had the opportunity to do so. Kawabe also came to New York to accompany Nikken for the completion ceremony of Myosetsuji Temple, and I had a chance to speak to Kawabe at the hotel lobby while waiting for Nikken to come down from the most luxurious room where he was staying. During our conversation, Kawabe said, “The people who chant the least are the priests.” I thought he was being humble, but I realized that he was just being honest. One and a half years before Nikken became the High Priest, when Nikken was the Chief of the Study Department of the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood, Kawabe wrote down Nikken’s exact words: “The Dai Gohonzon (the original Gohonzon) is counterfeit.”

SJ) How incorrect it is to seek the law outside ourselves as Nichiren Daishonin instructed, “The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 832). Furthermore, why are they promoting pilgrimage next year when Nikken himself had said that the Daigohonzon is counterfeit!  Do they even realize this is such a contradiction?!

By the way, who were the Chief Priests of Nichiren Shoshu in New York, and what were they like?

K) Kando Tono was the first Chief Priest of the Nichiren Shoshu New York branch. During his stay in New York, he engaged in a love affair with an American member though he had a young Japanese wife who was pregnant at the time. Eventually they got divorced, and he sent her back to Japan so he could continue his relationship with the American member. This behavior discouraged many members at the time.

On one occasion, I met Tono at the airport in New York when he came back from some gojukai or Gohonzon conferral ceremonies held in various places in North America. He had checked in a box of Gohonzons when boarding his flight back to New York, and upon his arrival, he picked it up at the luggage claim area. To my surprise, Tono put the box of Gonhonzons on the floor and unconsciously placed his foot on top of it to rest.

SJ) Appreciation and respect we show to the Gohonzon is synonymous with showing respect for Buddhahood within our own lives. Accordingly, this will be reflected in our lives. This tells us that the title “Chief Priest”  does not mean anything when it comes to faith.

K) In June 1981, President Ikeda came to New York after his trip to Europe. During his visit, he wrote a poem, “To My Beloved Young American Friends, Youthful Bodhisattvas of the Earth”  to all SGI-USA members. This poem became the prime point of advancement and development of our organization up until today.

SJ) How did the Nichiren Shoshu priests in New York treat President Ikeda?

K) The Chief Priest Tono came to visit the SGI community center right before President Ikeda’s arrival in New York, and Tono bluntly said to me, “There are some conflicts between SGI-New York and myself, but while Mr. Ikeda is here, please sweep all the dirt under the carpet.” In other words, he asked us to pretend as though there were no problems. I strongly refused his request and told him that we must always be honest with our mentor, President Ikeda.

On June 16th, President Ikeda arrived in New York, and he visited the temple on the morning of the 18th. At that time, Tono was a member of Shoshinkai, a Japanese Buddhist group formed in July 1980 by Nichiren Shoshu priests who were critical of both the Soka Gakkai and High Priest Nikken. In his lectures and on various occasions, Tono had criticized SGI and President Ikeda by citing the third-class Japanese magazines which often published rumors and the wrong information about SGI and President Ikeda with ill intent.

SJ) President Ikeda said, “Mr. Toda was keenly aware of the malicious intentions of corrupt priests. He said, ‘Why did the priesthood become corrupt and degenerate? Because they lost their dedication to the supreme aim of kosen-rufu”  (World Tribune, October, 2007). This is exactly what happened!!

K) In America, it was also those sincere pioneer members whose hearts were connected to President Ikeda that built the foundation of what we have today. After Tono, Hosho Shiina became the Chief Priest of the Nichiren Shoshu New York branch. He was a fairly friendly priest and he left Nichiren Shoshu after the excommunication in 1991. After Shiina, Yosai Yamada became the Chief Priest of the Nichiren Shoshu Temple in New York. Some of you may have seen the picture of him with a paid female escort in Spain. Yamada was usually quiet, and he tried to show his dignity and power by keeping his distance from all the SGI-NY members. However, I once heard a report about him that depicts his true nature. One day a little boy came into his yard by accident while he was playing, but Yamada was furious and chased after the boy with a baseball bat.

SJ) Could you please share with us your personal experiences with the Nichiren Shoshu priests if you happened to have any?

K) Yes. After Yamada, Jisei Nagasaka became the Chief Priest. In my opinion, he was the sneakiest and the cruelest priest among all the priests I mentioned and many SGI-NY members seemed to dislike him as well. From the moment he arrived in New York, he used SGI-NY members as his servants. He would call SGI for anything: to change light bulbs, to clean the gutter covers filled with fallen leaves, to shovel the snow in front of his house during the winter, and so on. SGI-NY members did everything for him, and Nagasaka took everything for granted.

I have one unforgettably painful personal experience with the Chief Priest Nagasaka. When I lost my son George in 1994, Nagasaka stated in his speech: “Kasahara family got a punishment from the Gohonzon because they did not follow the High Priest and his order. That is why their son was killed.” In contrast, President Ikeda treated our family with tremendous care and compassion. At that time, President Ikeda was in London, but he sent us a message right away: “The reason you have been practicing this Buddhism up until today is for this very crucial moment.”

To be frank with you, my wife and I were in a complete shock when my son’s life was in a critical condition before his passing, but the moment we received his message, we were able to summon up our courage to stand up again. President Ikeda also gave us a poem upon my son’s death:

“How brave you are as you depart, taking on all the sufferings of your fellow members in America with all your life.”

My wife and I have engraved this poem on our hearts, and we not only overcame our son’s death, but we also re-determined to live rest of our lives for the sake of kosen-rufu. My SGI-NY family also supported us with tremendous care and encouragement, and the unbelievable number of members came to our son’s memorial service. At the time, the community center was not as spacious, so those who came had to go in and out to accommodate everyone. We were so touched by their warm gesture and we were so appreciative of their sincerity.

SJ) Thank you so much for sharing that with us. The contrasting behavior of Nagasaka and President Ikeda reminds me of President Ikeda’s passage that the essence of Buddhism lies in our behavior as human beings and that arrogance or self-conceit in leaders is extreme folly.

K) There was something common in all these priests. They never expressed appreciation to anyone. They only stated thank you in their speeches as formality and as a part of their business, but when we saw them informally face to face, they never said thank you. Never. When the Nichiren Shoshu New York branch was built, SGI wholeheartedly supported them from finding the right construction company until it was finally built. Even so, they never said thank you. The bottom line was that all the priests were looking down upon the precious SGI-NY members.

SJ) What does November 18th, the founding day of Soka Gakkai mean to you?

K) For me, November 18th, the founding day of Soka Gakkai, is the day to refresh my determination to fight for kosenrufu based on Nichiren’s will together with our mentor President Ikeda. It is also the day to refresh my appreciation for my mentor and Gohonzon as well. In the September and October issue of Living Buddhism, President Ikeda states in his lecture on Reply to Sairenbo:

“In Nichiren Buddhism, the promise of mentor and disciple means being born together in the same world in this latter age of the widespread propagation of the Law and chanting and teaching others about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the supreme teaching of Buddhism and the ultimate reason for which Buddhas appear in the world. What a noble and glorious promise this is! And we dedicate our lives to propagating the Mystic Law in this way, Nichiren says, as a result of ‘some bond of karma we share from the past’ (WND-1, 309), stretching back immeasurable kalpas ago. What a profound and powerful spiritual bond we share!” (p.52).

Nichiren inscribed the original Gohonzon on Oct. 12th in 1279, and over 420 of his writings remained in Japan for more than 750 years. However, in spite of Nichiren’s great vow, no one single individual took courageous steps toward realization of kosenrufu until the First President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and the Second President Josei Toda established the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai on November 18th, 1930. This was when the great waves of kosenrufu finally began to move.

SJ) Ever since then, Soka Gakkai has been the only organization that accords with Nichiren Daishonin’s will and decree. Mr. Kasahara, thank you so much for sharing!

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