| Demolition of Shohondo: Emyo, 1/16/98 |
| Demolition ofShohondo: Emyo,
1/16/98 A Sign of The Wicked Heart of Ikeda is Revealed Although many people may have already noticed it, looking at a line of columns of the Shohondo, one will notice that the surface of the marble has partially turned red. Surprisingly, it's because of red rust. What is more, when you look carefully, you will see that red rust appears on the marble flooring of the walkway inside the Shohondo, and partially on the marble of the platform in front of the altar, and elsewhere. It's not possible for marble to rust. Then why has rust appeared on the surfaces of the marble. The only cause that we can think of with certainty is that the reinforcing steel bars inside the concrete structures have rusted and the rust has seeped out through to the surface of the marble. According to a dictionary on construction titled, "Kenchiku Doboku ga Wakaru Jiten (Understanding Civil and Architectural Construction", edited by Taisei Construction (Note: One of the major construction companies in Japan, and the primary one responsible for the construction of the Shohondo), it states, "Concrete, originally, has a high alkalinity. Therefore, reinforcing steel bars inside concrete are protected from rust.... Generally, the life span of reinforced concrete structures is thought to be until the reinforcing steel bars begin to rust. It is sometimes estimated by the degree of alkalinity of the concrete. However, when there is salt greater than a certain amount, the reinforcing steel bars will rust even though the concrete is originally alkaline." It also states, "Concrete is made by mixing cement, gravel, and sand, but if ocean sand or something that includes a large amount of salt is used, reinforcing steel bars inside the concrete will soon rust and the life span of the structure will have come to an end." (See notes 1 and 2) In view of this explanation, the rust which can be seen not only on the marble surfaces of the columns, which are exposed to the weather, but also on the marble inside the Shohondo, indicates a high probability that the use of ocean sand in the concrete has caused this phenomenon. Moreover, an architect states, "I think, if rust has appeared seeping out through the high density marble, it indicates that the reinforcing steel bars inside the concrete may already have severely deteriorated." Some might say, "Shohondo was constructed with a firm, internal steel structure. There should be no fear about the strength of it, even if the reinforcing steel bars may have, more or less, deteriorated." However, the fear cannot be resolved so easily. According to "Sekai-ichi o Hokoru Shondo no Subete (The Complete Details of the Shohondo, One of the Greatest Architectural Structures in the World) ", published by The Weekly Sankei, extra edition, Nov. 7, 1972, "The most difficult problem for the engineers was the large elliptic roof over the platform in front of the altar. The circumference is approx. 300 meters; the weight is approx. 20,000 tons. 140 steel beams in 18 groups extend inwardly from the edge of the reinforced concrete wall to support the large roof. The ends of those steel beams are held together with one steel ring ten meters in diameter. This was the idea of Mr. Yokoyama (Kimio Yokoyama, a planner of Shohondo). It was called "Hangosei Tsuriyane Kozo (half-stiffened suspension structure)" Mr. Aoki (Shigeru Aoki, a professor of Hosei University, in charge of the structure of Shohondo) stated, "In any case, because it was the first application of this method of construction in the world, especially concering the physics involved for the center ring, I tried well over a hundred calculations, all the calculations I could think of, such as how much tension would the pillars supporting the beams have if we poured concrete, or without concrete, the twist would be how much, and so on." "The most crucial point of the construction of the roof was to join 36 curved beams with the center ring. Also crucial was the point of the half-stiffened suspension structure. There they have structural leverage.... Mr. Yokoyama and other architects repeated careful examination of it, day and night. They came to the conclusion that the leverage would allow the roof to stablize if the pillars had concrete poured 28 meters high." This gives us an idea of the effort involved by the architects. But it also tells us that if the life span of the concrete in the pillars has come to an end, the 20,000 ton roof has lost its stability. A strange sign of that can be seen on the columns and on marble surfaces inside the Shohondo in the form of rust. It has been 26 years since the Shohondo was built. The Shohondo, which Ikeda had requested to be built and had claimed would exist for 10,000 years is considered to be in a condition that requires immediate attention and large scale repairs, or whatever is necessary. We regret that we (the staff of Emyo) must bring up this problem when Nichiren Shoshu, out of serious concerns for safety in the event of an earthquake, has undertaken the demolition of the DaiKyakuden and the construction of the new Kyakuden. However, out of serious concern, we have reported the facts as they are. It is perplexing that Ikeda continues to trouble Nichiren Shoshu, even after he was excommunicated, in the form of "The Devil of the Sixth Heaven", which attempts to destroy Buddhism. Lastly, though it is a strange coincidence, the rust of the Shohondo began to appear conspicuously in 1990, when Ikeda began his campaign of obstruction against Nichiren Shoshu. Year by year, the rust has become more conspicuous. There is a Chinese idiom, "Yo-to Ku-niku" ("Deceptive, fraudulent. The sign states 'Mutton' but actually they sell dog meat [from the Buddhist text "Momonkan"]). The time Ikeda's faith was revealed as deceptive and evil and the time when the Shohondo's abnormal condition appeared, were the same. The deterioration of the Shohondo along with the actions of Ikeda are, without question, an indication of the mysterious nature of Buddhism. -----End of Translation----- Note 1. Hiroshi Seki, Senior research engineer at the Structures Division, Port and Harbor Research Institute, Japan, states in his article, "Deterioration of Concrete of Coastal Structures in Japan", "It is believed that salt content in concrete causes corrosion of reinforcing bars embedded in reinforced concrete." (Durability of Concrete, pub. by, American Concrete Institute,Detroit, Publication SP-47, pg. 293, 1975) Seki states, the use of salt water for mixing concrete will give fresh concrete a salt content of about 0.2 percent. In addition, sea sand (consider salt content of 2.7 percent[**]) will raise the overall salt content in fresh concrete to 0.9 percent. ** "Study on Usage of Sea Sand for Reinforced Concrete," Transactions of the Japan Society of Architectural Engineers, No. 54, 1956, Shunichi Kano, Takeshi Kojima, Hisatsugu Oshima, Sanpei Sato, Toyokazu Shiire, and Koichi Kishitani. Note 2. As far as I can confirm, Japanese construction regulations, in 1986, set the maximum permissable amount of sodium chloride content in concrete at 0.3 percent, which would disallow the use of ocean sand in concrete. |
| Demolition ofShohondo: Emyo, 5/16/98 |
| Demolition of Shohondo: Emyo,
5/16//98 Emyo, 5/16//98, issue no. 129, page 1 The Mystery of the "Accounting for Shohondo" and its Abuse by Ikeda! Was Shohondo Really Constructed with the Donations of 35.5 billion yen? (35.5 billion yen was approximately 98.61 million dollars.) The Donations of 12 billion Yen Which Disappeared - 10 Billion in Japan, and 2 Billion From Overseas Members - SG Never Published an Announcement of These two Amounts. Remarkably, the Shohondo, itself, was built with the interest on the donations held in the SG's bank account! Many Soka Gakkai members, who took part in the donations collections for the Shohondo, seem shocked as if they have lost the value on their personal property because the Shohondo has turned out to be a useless monstrosity. It is not on the same level as Ikeda's deep-seated avariciousness, but it is a forlorn sadness for a loss of something material they felt had held value. They felt "this slab of marble on this pillar is my contribution", or, "this piece of tile is from my contribution". They were proud that their donations, which they collected with their fanatic, desperation, had turned into a single piece of marble for a pillar or a single piece of tile for a wall of the Shohondo. However, were their donations for Shohondo, which the Soka Gakkai declared "The Donations of the Century", really used as Gakkai members had supposed? Here, we shall provide the details of the activities for collection of the donations for Shohondo, disclose the astonishing facts, and dispel the illusions of Soka Gakkai members. The presentation of the donations list of 35.5 billion yen to Nittatsu Shonin It was May 3, 1964, at the Soka Gakkai's Senior Leader's meeting, that Daisaku Ikeda announced, as the will of the second president Toda, "I want to construct the Shohondo and donate it to the main temple Taisekiji." The period for collection of the donations was four days, from October 9 to the 12, 1965. According to Soka Gakkai's official statement, they reported that the unprecedented amount of 35.5 billion yen had been donated within Japan, alone. (Seikyo Shimbun, Oct.18, 1965) These ridiculous instructions had spread to Gakkai members nationwide, by word of mouth, and stirred up members to squeeze out all of their money. "If you donate for the Shohondo, it will come back to you one hundred times or one thousand times." "You will have no difficulties for the rest of your life." "However poor you may be, if you compel yourself to donate, you will have the life condition to be present at the Shohondo opening ceremony wearing nice clothes, or a dress and jewelry." "This is the final donation." The members cancelled life insurance policies, parted with funds for weddings, handed over funds which were saved for building a new home, and so on. The 35.5 billion yen was the result of competitive donations collection activities. On the other hand, people may think that Nichiren Shoshu had accepted that huge amount of donations and that the Shohondo was built with it. However, that is not correct. In other words, the donation of 35.5 billion yen, which was merely presented as a list, was dedicated to the High Priest Nittatsu Shonin, on October 17, 1965. (Seikyo Shimbun, Oct.18, 1965) Nittatsu Shonin, at the official ceremony for presentation of the donation, stated, "Now I have received the donation. I will commit the entire donation to President Ikeda with complete reliance." In this way, the responsibility for how the donations would be used was entrusted to Ikeda. However, watching the progress after that, obscure and opaque actual conditions developed. The Shohondo was constructed only with the interest from the donations in the bank account Suspicion of extra donations, which have never been publiclyannounced, and the channeling of funds for other purposes Firstly, the Seikyo Shimbun has never announced the amount of the donations collected from overseas members, nor where the funds went, since the Seikyo Shimbun stated, "The amount of the donations collected overseas will be announced later." It is believed that the amount collected overseas was approx. 2 billion yen or U.S.$ 5.6 million. Secondly, Ikeda made a slip of the tongue at a meeting. It is on record that Ikeda stated, "Besides that announcement (in the Seikyo Shimbun of 35.5 billion yen), there was 10 billion yen (U.S.$ 28 million). We will make some more money, again." (Jan. 26, 1971, Soka Gakkai Executives' Meeting minutes.) Of course, these funds, 2 billion yen from overseas members and 10 billion yen which has never been publicly disclosed, were not included on the financial report orally announced by Vice President Hiroshi Hojo at the Shohondo opening ceremony. According to the announcement by Hojo, Oct.12, 1972, the donations for the Shohondo was none other than 35.5 billion yen, the interest was 13.2 billion yen, and the total revenue was 48.7 billion yen. On the other hand, looking into the expenditures, the cost for the Shohondo building was said to have been 22.8 billion yen (U.S.$ 63.3 million). However the cost for the Shohondo building itself is estimated, at most, at 17 billion yen. The 22.8 billion yen included the cost for all of the construction outside the building. Let's make a rough calculation then. The interest on 35.5 billion yen was 13.2 billion yen. Moreover, assuming that the Gakkai deposited 12 billion yen (U.S.$ 33.3 million), 2 billion yen from overseas members and an unannounced 10 billion yen collected in Japan, in the bank account with the same conditions, the interest accrued would be 4.4 billion yen. Therefore, the total amount of interest was 17.6 billion yen (U.S.$ 49 million). In other words, this calculation indicates that the Shohondo building itself was constructed just with the interest on the donations. It was that building, built with the interest on the donations, which was handed over to Nichiren Shoshu. We have no words to console Gakkai members who firmly believed, "Our donations turned into each pillar, each stair, each piece of marble of the Shohondo." We have only the truth. So, where did the 35.5 billion yen, nay, 47.5 billion yen (adding the 12 billion yen which was not included in the public accounting ledgers) collected from the believers disappear to? When the Shohondo was constructed, a series of new construction projects took place - maintenance of the Head Temple and construction of temples, were also done with the donations; land was purchased around Shohondo (Ikeda-yama, Tokohi-ga-mine, etc.), the second, the fourth, and the fifth general lodging temples were built (Later, those were demolished by Soka Gakkai and turned into the present So-Ichibo and So-nibo.); Iyaku-bo (Medical temple), Kanne-do (a facility which has public bath and so on), and branch temples were built. Additionally, facilities for Soka Gakkai were also constructed such as the Fuji Art Museum, Fuso Culture Center, which has extensive property in Fujinomiya-City, Ikeda's private house called Taizan-so, which was situated on 66,000 square meters (53.5 acres) with tennis courts and a swimming pool, used by Ikeda when he visited the Head Temple Taisekiji (Later, it was given to Nichiren Shoshu and is the present, Taizan-bo.). Moreover, surprisingly, in addition to the expenditures for those construction projects, though it was not listed on the "Construction Plan for Facilities", it is said that the NSIC (Nichiren Shoshu International Center, a Gakkai facility) in Sendagaya, Tokyo, was built with money from the Shohondo donations. Also Soka Gakkai buildings were constructed one after another with the funds which believers had expected would be used for the construction of Shohondo. All these projects were carried out on the decision of Daisaku Ikeda. Furthermore, around the same period, magnificent and extensive facilities exclusively for Ikeda were constructed one after another, such as the Atami Training Center, Kasumi Training Center, Karuizawa Training Center, Shiraito Training Center, Ohnuma Training Center, Lake Biwa Training Center, Mitsusaki Training Center, and so on. It had been rumored that many of the expenditures for facilities that were constructed must have been from the Shohondo account. Large amounts of money besides those for the above projects, which shall be explained, were said to be used for matters that had nothing to do with Shohondo or Nichiren Shoshu. It was possible because no one other than Ikeda had been entrusted with the Shohondo account. In any case, it is certain that the donations for Shohondo, the 35.5 billion yen (in actuality, 47.5 billion yen ), raised with the members' excruciating pain, had not turned into "each pillar" nor "each piece of marble". Ikeda wasted the entire Shohondo Account, and handed over to Nichiren Shoshu a building which needs an astronomical amount of money to pay for its maintenance. In those days, Mr. Masatomo Yamazaki was a lawyer for Soka Gakkai and was deeply involved in the Shohondo Account. He was one of few executives, who was so highly trusted by Ikeda that he was allowed to have his own, special house on the same site as Ikeda's house, Taizan-so. According to Yamazaki, "Ikeda would often say, 'Never allow a surplus to accumulate from the Shohondo Account. Never let Nichiren Shoshu have the money. Spend all of it, in any way you can.' As a result, the lands around the main temple were purchased at several times the market value. Expenses that had nothing to do with the Shohondo were withdrawn, one after another, from the Shohondo account. Ikeda said, 'Can't this be paid for out of the Shohondo Account?', and payments such as personnel expenses and office expenses for the Soka Gakkai Headquarters, the costs for awards to the members who had accomplished distinguished services to the Soka Gakkai were paid for with the Shohondo Account. It was at its worse around 1971." Ikeda, went to great lengths to reduce the amount of money to be returned to Nichiren Shoshu. In fact, the remainder from the Shohondo account of 5.7 billion yen (U.S.$15.83 million), which was transferred to Nichiren Shoshu in Oct. 1972, was entirely owed to creditors who had not been paid and who were listed on the Shohondo Account ledgers. By reducing the surplus as much as possible, Ikeda attempted to create a situation wherein Nichiren Shoshu could not exist without the financial help from the Soka Gakkai. In other words, Ikeda had plotted to control Nichiren Shoshu in the future by creating an economic crisis. The Shohondo was an Unexpected Money-consuming White Elephant Firstly, there was the electric bill. It was quite an amount even only considering the lighting portion, but the largest money guzzler was the air conditioning system. The windows of the Shohondo are sealed tight and can not be opened, despite the Shohondo's large, interior space. Because it was always closed, air conditioners had to be turned on nearly every day to prevent mold from growing because of the dampness, even when it was not in use. That created an electric bill of several tens of millions of yen (hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars) a year even only for the electric bill. Furthermore, the more the air conditioners were used, the more they would deteriorate. The useful life of the air conditioners was at most ten to fifteen years. It cost roughly two billion yen (U.S.$ 5.6 million) to replace them. Additionally, the cost for the inspection and upkeep of the motors was 10 million yen a year; then there was the necessary cost for replacing the carpets, cleaning, maintenance, repair, and so on. In any event, the upkeep and maintenance costs were enormous. Today Nichiren Shoshu has already excommunicated Soka Gakkai giving precedence to maintaining the true law correctly, despite the difficult economic conditions. In this situation, the Shohondo is nothing more than a money-consuming, white elephant, which impedes our efforts for protecting the True Law. There is no alternative but to stop using it and to close it. This is a rational and realistic decision for protecting the True Law. Red Rust Seeping out from Inside the Concrete Structures The condition of the Shohondo itself has red rust seeping out from inside concrete structures. If the Shohondo were to be repaired, how large an expense would it cost? Nay, repairing it doesn't make any sense, if the concrete itself has a problem. From the viewpoint of safety, there is no choice but to close the Shohondo, immediately. At the time when the Shohondo construction was finished, Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai at that time, declared that he himself was the Honge-Kokushu (Note: A Buddhist term translated as, ruler of the country responsible for the establishment of the High Sanctuary, based on the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin and the "Three Great Secret Laws") saying, "Inside this Shohondo, the sovereign of this country, the president of the Soka Gakkai, will make a prayer for world peace." The members of the Soka Gakkai were very excited, boasting this ridiculous interpretation as related by a Gakkai cult member, "The man who revealed the Honmon no Honzon and Honmon no Daimoku of the Three Great Secret Laws was Nichiren Daishonin. The man who revealed the Honmon no Kaidan is Ikeda sensei. Therefore, Ikeda sensei has the enlightenment rivaling the Daishonin." However Ikeda and most of the members from those days have become terrible, slanderous people who have nothing to do with Nichiren Shoshu, and Kosenrufu (world wide propagation of the teachings of Nichiren Shoshu) for them has vanished. The Shohondo which had been expected by them to soon realize the Kaidan for Honmonji has definitely turned into a white elephant. In this situation, not only closing it, but also demolishing it would be the most reasonable approach to dealing with it. |
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