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The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist lay organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, the Soka Gakkai's third president.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs )〕 The SGI serves as the umbrella organization for the Soka Gakkai's international presence, which reports adherents in 192 countries and territories. It characterizes itself as a support network for practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism and a global Buddhist movement for "peace, education, and cultural exchange." The Soka Gakkai International is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with official ties to the United Nations.〔 ==History== International expansion of the Soka Gakkai began after World War II, when some Soka Gakkai members married mostly American servicemen and moved away from Japan. Expansion efforts gained a further boost in 1960 when Daisaku Ikeda succeeded Josei Toda as Soka Gakkai president. In his first year as president of the Soka Gakkai, Ikeda visited the United States, Canada, and Brazil.〔 The Soka Gakkai's American headquarters officially opened in Los Angeles in 1963. The Soka Gakkai International was formed at a meeting in Guam on January 26, 1975. Representatives from 51 countries attended the meeting and chose Ikeda as the SGI's founding president.〔 The SGI was created in part as a new peace movement, and its founding meeting was held in Guam in a symbolic gesture referencing Guam's history as the site of some of World War II's bloodiest battles, and proximity to Tinian Island, launching place of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. In January 2015, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo reported that the SGI had been nominated for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, as confirmed by a Nobel Peace Laureate.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Nobel Peace Prize 2015: PRIO Director's Speculations )〕 The SGI-USA was one of the organizing groups for the first-ever Buddhist conference at the White House, held in May 2015.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 U.S., Buddhist Leaders to Meet at the White House )〕 In June 2015, the SGI-Italy was recognized by the Italian government with a special accord under Italian Constitution Article 8, acknowledging it as an official religion of Italy and eligible to receive direct taxpayer funding for its religious and social activities.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Religion in the Italian Constitution )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Istituto Buddista Italiano Soka Gakkai )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Soka Gakkai International」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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