# Soka Gakkai International

> international Nichiren Buddhist movement founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda

**Wikidata**: [Q11398042](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11398042)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soka_Gakkai_International)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/soka-gakkai-international

## Summary
Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist movement and religious nonprofit organization founded on January 26, 1975, by Daisaku Ikeda in Guam. Headquartered in Samonchō, Japan, it operates as the global affiliate of its parent organization, Soka Gakkai, and engages in both religious practice and international civil society advocacy.

## Key Facts
- **Full Name**: Soka Gakkai International
- **Short Name**: SGI
- **Alternate Names**: 創価学会インターナショナル, Sōka Gakkai Intānashonaru
- **Founded**: January 26, 1975, in Guam
- **Founder**: Daisaku Ikeda
- **Credited Co-Founder**: Jōsei Toda
- **Country**: Japan
- **Headquarters**: Samonchō, Japan
- **Parent Organization**: Soka Gakkai
- **Type**: Religious organization, international organization, nonprofit organization
- **Industry**: Religious congregations and associations
- **Religion/Worldview**: Soka Gakkai (Nichiren Buddhism)
- **Official Websites**: https://www.sgi.org/ and https://www.sokaglobal.org/ (available in English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese)
- **YouTube Channel**: Soka Gakkai Official (ID: UCOougqO3X9WA-J2Hse5ybVA), launched May 6, 2011
- **Twitter**: @sgi_info (verified, since June 4, 2015)
- **Facebook**: sgi.info
- **Instagram**: sgi.info
- **YouTube Subscribers**: ~104,000 (as of January 26, 2025)
- **Twitter Followers**: 18,422 (as of February 6, 2023)
- **YouTube Views**: 2,138,712 total (as of October 3, 2021)
- **YouTube Videos**: 137
- **Member Of**: Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, Conference of NGOs
- **Library of Congress Authority ID**: nr95032493
- **VIAF ID**: 126294819
- **ISNI**: 0000000406311977
- **Ringgold ID**: 101731
- **Bibliothèque nationale de France ID**: 119847294
- **National Library of Israel J9U ID**: 987007268096105171
- **Wikipedia Languages**: 12 editions (English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Chinese, Commons)

## FAQs

**What is Soka Gakkai International?**
Soka Gakkai International is a global nonprofit religious organization rooted in the Nichiren Buddhist tradition. It serves as the international arm of Soka Gakkai, a Japanese new religious movement, and was formally established in 1975.

**Who founded Soka Gakkai International and when?**
Daisaku Ikeda founded the organization on January 26, 1975, in Guam. Jōsei Toda is also credited in organizational records as a founding figure.

**Where is Soka Gakkai International headquartered?**
The headquarters are located in Samonchō, Japan.

**What international coalitions does Soka Gakkai International belong to?**
SGI is a member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a coalition seeking to prohibit fully autonomous weapons, and the Conference of NGOs, which facilitates engagement between nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations.

**How large is Soka Gakkai International's online audience?**
As of early 2025, the organization's YouTube channel has approximately 104,000 subscribers, while its verified Twitter account has over 18,000 followers.

## Why It Matters
Soka Gakkai International occupies a distinctive position at the intersection of religious practice and international civil society. As one of the most globally recognized movements within Nichiren Buddhism, SGI extends beyond spiritual instruction to active participation in humanitarian advocacy, including membership in the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and the Conference of NGOs. This dual identity—religious organization and international nonprofit—enables it to contribute to global conversations on disarmament, peace, and ethical technology while maintaining a faith-based membership framework. Its establishment in Guam in 1975 marked a deliberate internationalization of the Soka Gakkai movement, transforming a Japanese religious organization into a network with multilingual reach across at least five languages and digital engagement spanning over 100,000 followers. The organization's cataloging in major international library and authority systems further underscores its institutional permanence and global recognition.

## Notable For
- Being the international affiliate of Soka Gakkai, extending a Japanese Nichiren Buddhist movement to a global audience
- Founding in Guam in 1975, establishing an international identity separate from its Japanese parent
- Membership in the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, linking a Buddhist organization to contemporary weapons policy debates
- Membership in the Conference of NGOs, granting formal standing within United Nations civil society networks
- Operating a multilingual web platform (sokaglobal.org) in five languages: English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese
- Maintaining a verified Twitter account since 2015 and a YouTube presence since 2011 with over 2.1 million cumulative views
- Holding authority records in the Library of Congress, Bibliothèque nationale de France, National Library of Israel, and numerous other international cataloging systems

## Body

### Identity and Classification
Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is classified as a religious organization, an international organization, and a nonprofit organization. It operates within the industry of religious congregations and associations. The organization's religion or worldview is categorized as Soka Gakkai, a Japanese new religious movement grounded in the Nichiren Buddhist tradition. Its Wikidata description identifies it as an "international Nichiren Buddhist movement founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda."

### Origins and Founding
SGI was founded on January 26, 1975, in Guam. The founding is attributed to Daisaku Ikeda, though organizational records also list Jōsei Toda under the founded_by property. The choice of Guam as the location of formation represented a geographic and symbolic step outside Japan, positioning the organization as a deliberately international entity. SGI functions as the international extension of its parent organization, Soka Gakkai, which remains based in Japan.

### Geographic Context
The organization is headquartered in Samonchō, Japan, and its country of origin is Japan. Japan is an island country in East Asia with a population of approximately 123,802,000 as of October 2024. Japan has a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with Buddhism representing 66.7% of religious affiliation as of 2020. The country is a member of the United Nations, OECD, G7, G20, APEC, WTO, UNESCO, and numerous other international bodies, providing a stable institutional environment for an organization with global ambitions.

### Organizational Structure
SGI operates under its parent organization, Soka Gakkai. The religion or worldview associated with SGI is listed explicitly as "Soka Gakkai," confirming doctrinal alignment with the broader movement. The organization's industry classification is religious congregations and associations, and it carries the formal designation of nonprofit organization as recognized by the Conference of NGOs.

### Digital Presence and Media
Soka Gakkai International maintains an extensive digital footprint. Its primary websites are sgi.org and sokaglobal.org, the latter preferred and available in five languages: English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese. On social media, the organization uses the handle @sgi_info on Twitter and Instagram, and sgi.info on Facebook. Its Twitter account has been verified since June 4, 2015. The YouTube channel, titled "Soka Gakkai Official" (ID: UCOougqO3X9WA-J2Hse5ybVA), was created on May 6, 2011. As of January 26, 2025, the channel has approximately 104,000 subscribers and 137 videos. As of October 3, 2021, the channel had accumulated 2,138,712 total views and 86,300 subscribers, indicating steady growth. An image of the organization's headquarters building is available on Wikimedia Commons under the filename Soka_gakkai_honbu.jpg.

### International Memberships
SGI holds membership in two international coalitions. It is a member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a global coalition advocating for a treaty prohibiting fully autonomous weapons systems. It is also a member of the Conference of NGOs (CoNGO), an organization that facilitates interaction between nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations system. These memberships were confirmed via the respective organizations' member directories.

### Library and Authority Records
SGI is cataloged in an extensive network of international authority systems. These include the Library of Congress Authority ID (nr95032493), Bibliothèque nationale de France ID (119847294), VIAF ID (126294819), ISNI (0000000406311977), Ringgold ID (101731), National Library of Israel J9U ID (987007268096105171), CONOR.SI ID (340454243), IDRef ID (027905977), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture ID (E0047178), Yale LUX ID (group/b672fa61-b053-4b67-be8c-dd6eeba90724), Wellcome Collection Concept ID (m2xgx9qs), and Freebase ID (/m/012w3zly). Its discontinued Microsoft Academic ID was 1314448543. The Quora topic designation is Soka-Gakkai-International-SGI.

### Wikipedia and Multilingual Coverage
The Wikipedia article for Soka Gakkai International spans 12 language editions, including English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Chinese, and Wikimedia Commons. The Commons category is "Soka Gakkai International." The article has a sitelink count of 12, indicating moderate global editorial representation.

## References

1. [Member Organizations](https://ngocongo.org/member-organizations/)
2. Aligned ISNI and Ringgold identifiers for institutions
3. [Source](https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/members/)
4. National Library of Israel Names and Subjects Authority File
5. YouTube API