Selling off some personal belongings to pay for his travel expenses, Ikeda Sensei utterly resolved to be victorious in the Yamaguchi campaign.​

At the beginning of September, Yamaguchi Prefecture had only 430 member households, while Tokyo had 100,000 and Kansai had 60,000. I went to Yamaguchi in October. By January 1957, membership there had increased close to tenfold, to 4,073 households.​​

Over the course of those three months, from October to January, I travelled to Yamaguchi Prefecture three times. I spent a total of 22 days there leading the short but decisive struggle. On top of that, I was striving wholeheartedly to help Mr Toda’s businesses and support the Gakkai overall. Every step was a battle against time. The challenge was compounded by the fact that some of the senior leaders didn’t grasp the significance of the campaign and were reluctant to cooperate.​

I didn’t have any money. I managed to pay my travel expenses by selling off some personal belongings. Still, I was utterly resolved that we would be victorious. “I am the direct disciple of Josei Toda, a great mentor spearheading the development of our movement for kosen-rufu. There is absolutely no reason that I should not win!” With this thought, I would encourage myself to continue onward. I would not accept defeat! I would triumph! Such was my burning spirit as Mr Toda’s disciple.