Translated from Seikyo Shimbun article published on 19 November 2023.

Toda Sensei spoke to Ikeda Sensei just before he passed away, “I want to go — to travel the world on a journey for kosen-rufu.” “[Daisaku], the world is your challenge; it is your true stage. It is a vast world.”

On October 2, 1960, Ikeda Sensei departed from Haneda Airport to realize the dream of worldwide kosen-rufu entrusted to him by his mentor. This is the first time he travelled outside of Japan to visit 9 cities in the USA, Canada and Brazil in 24 days. He thoroughly encouraged the persons he met and established 2 chapters and 17 districts. “If there was even one comrade, I wanted to reach out and encourage them, even if they were far away or at the grass roots. Just as a dew is born from a single spring, a great river of world peace can be created from that one person.” Ikeda sensei recalled.

How will we internalize this spirit and accurately hand it on to future generations? This is my challenge.” This was Ikeda sensei’s true feelings when he first penned down the novel “New Human Revolution.”

At the SGI inauguration ceremony held in Guam on January 26, 1975, Ikeda Sensei encouraged the members present, “I hope that you will dedicate your noble lives to sowing the seeds of peace of the Mystic Law throughout the entire world. I shall do the same.”

Sensei had visited 54 countries and regions. He took the lead in the great humanistic movement for peace, culture, and education based on the Buddhist idea of respect for the dignity of life. The solidarity of Soka Gakkai has expanded to 192 countries and regions. The solidarity of the human flower of the bodhisattvas of the earth outside Japan have grown to 3 million. We are entering an era in which the sound of daimoku enfolds the globe.

Ikeda Sensei encouraged the youth from overseas and gave him a fist bump. Ikeda Sensei seemed to call out to him, “Do your best! Do not be defeated!” (September 2002, at the former Soka Bunka Kaikan in Shinanomachi, Tokyo

Furthermore, he wrote the novel “Human Revolution” on December 2, 1964, saying, “I want to correctly convey Toda sensei’s “truth” to the future generations.” On August 6, 1993, he wrote a sequel novel, “New Human Revolution”, and finished it on the same day in 2018.

For more than half a century, he continued to write the truth about Soka’s mentor and disciples, and to encourage his comrades around the world with the battle waged with words.

Source: https://www.seikyoonline.com/article/1A0AF300365A1B9424E4D8ECA6DB96AC