Japan Research Monograph 18. Berkeley, CA: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 2014. 298 pp. US$25.00, paper. ISBN 978-1-55729-111-0.
The first chapter in Kōmeitō: Politics and Religion in Japan is written by the editors of the volume, and its title, “Kōmeitō: The Most Understudied Party of Japanese Politics,” makes the main purpose of their project clear from the start. The editors, along with five other contributors, have filled a void in the study of Japanese politics and religion that has been long neglected, and have provided the field with an essential study of the fifty-year collaboration between the twentieth-century Buddhist sect, Sōka Gakkai (創価学会), and its political offshoot, Kōmeitō (公明党). In addition to providing a detailed investigation of the party’s founding and historical evolution, as well as its electioneering operations, funding, and political coalitions, the writers were also motivated to counteract the predominance of slanderous representations of Kōmeitō from Japanese news media and contentious former associates of the party who are primarily concerned with settling scores. By presenting a thorough up-to-date study based in data-driven evidence and operational observations, the collaborators in this volume have provided a much-needed objective source for serious researchers.
The chapters are divided into four areas, including context, history, structure, and strategies of power. The first chapter, “Religious Groups in Japanese Electoral Politics,” shows that while there is little evidence to suggest religion-based parties in Japan hold any real advantage in electoral politics, Kōmeitō is the one exception. The party has benefitted from the political activities of Sōka Gakkai, successfully electing three to four times more candidates than all other religious parties combined (26). This level of political weight also suggests the importance of examining the sect in order to understand how its members organize and promote nominees.
The chapters in the history section are divided into two periods: from the inception of Sōka Gakkai in 1930 to the year 1970 when Kōmeitō was rocked by scandal, and from 1970 to the present. After the founder of Sōka Gakkai, Makiguchi Tsunesaburō, died of malnutrition in jail for refusal to support State Shinto during the Pacific War, his successor, Toda Jōgai, reformed the movement as a religion of the poor, and expanded membership during the 1950s through sectarian publications and “proactive conversion.” The ultimate vision of Toda’s reforms was the achievement of the “ordination platform,” a state-sponsored ordination system for universal conversion to Sōka Gakkai. It was from this primary goal of the ordination platform that the necessity for a political party evolved. After a period of strong outside opposition, Ikeda Daisaku inaugurated the formation of Kōmeitō in 1964 (67).
The subsequent rapid expansion of both Kōmeitō and Sōka Gakkai was severely damaged in 1969 with the publication of a university professor’s book denouncing Sōka Gakkai as a fascist sect. This criticism was further exacerbated by a public scandal resulting from stories of Kōmeitō officials attempting to stop the book’s publication. Ikeda responded in 1970 with a public apology, stating that Kōmeitō and Sōka Gakkai were two separate organizations, and renouncing the plans for an ordination platform.
Kōmeitō pursued coalitions with left-leaning parties during the early 1970s in order to alter its identity as a religious organization. But by the end of the decade the party began a shift right to expand the voter base beyond Sōka Gakkai, and to begin courting a coalition with the establishment Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). At the same time, members of Sōka Gakkai were beginning to lean right as well, due to improvements in socio-economic standing, and continued to support Kōmeitō.
In “The Structure” section, details on choosing candidates, the organization of rallies, the funding of campaigns, and the mobilization of voters are examined. The influence and support of Sōka Gakkai continues to be a necessary component of Kōmeitō success, due to the sect’s well-organized social networks. These networks are primarily led by married women, which in turn drives much of the policy making decisions for the party. In addition, candidate selection is still, “largely shaped by the party’s relationship with Sōka Gakkai” (141). A study of Kōmeitō campaign finance reveals that the party mirrors Sōka Gakkai fund-raising activities as well, based mainly in newspaper sales and the contributions of individual donors.
The final section analyzes the strategies that have been employed by competing parties to weaken Kōmeitō’s political standing. These countermobilizations have primarily been led by rival religious organizations ever since the formation of Kōmeitō in 1964. In the 1990s the political countermobilizations were mainly related to political maneuverings of the rival LDP, which ironically led to a coalition between the two parties in 1999.
The conclusion of the authors is that Kōmeitō is a “normal” political party, operating in a similar fashion as other Japanese or Western political parties that have supporting constituencies. While members of Sōka Gakkai provide a highly successful voter mobilization for Kōmeitō, the authors did not find evidence of “brainwashing” as their critics have contended, or even Sōka Gakkai functioning as some kind of “litmus test” for Kōmeitō policymaking (270). Although the volume provides a wealth of insight regarding the functioning of Kōmeitō as a political party, the authors contend they have only “scratched the surface” (272), calling for more research on Kōmeitō’s role in a coalition government, as well as research on the relationship between Sōka Gakkai and the party. The main constraints in the present volume may be in the limited access of the authors to the inner workings of the party and its relationship with Sōka Gakkai. George Ehrhardt’s contributions to the volume are the only ones that relied on fieldwork, while the other chapters are primarily relying on data collected from public documents and previous studies. Regardless of these limitations however, the text is a must-read for anyone interested in the study of election politics in Japan.
Victor J. Forte
Albright College, Reading, USA
pp. 903-905