Greetings to readers in 2021, the Year of the Ox. Starting off, weekly business magazine Shukan Diamond (Jan. 9) chose to mark the year's first regular issue with a 44-page special report on the Buddhist lay group Soka Gakkai, which in 2020 observed the 90th anniversary of its founding.

It was in 1930 that educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, together with Josei Toda, founded the "value-creating study society" based on the tenets of the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist sect. Makiguchi, jailed for his pacifist beliefs, died in prison in 1944. He was succeeded by Toda, who reorganized it after the Pacific War. Under its third president, Daisaku Ikeda, the membership expanded rapidly.

The word "militant," once used to describe the organization's aggressive proselytizing tactics, is seldom invoked these days, but Soka Gakkai's economic, social and political influence is undeniable. With a claimed membership of more than 12 million, it operates Soka University and two primary through high schools in Tokyo and Kansai. Its newspaper, the Seikyo Shimbun, claims a daily circulation of 5.5 million.