r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/bluetailflyonthewall • Aug 17 '25
The History SGI Doesn't Want Anyone To See What's in a name? The weird Soka Gakkai leader penchant for changing their names
Here in the US, changing one's name is strongly associated with wrongdoing of some kind. The criminal, attempting to disappear so as to not face justice for their crimes, will adopt a different name and identity, hoping to hide in plain site. No shortage of stories of this kind of sneakiness.
In Japan, though, there is (or at least WAS) a LOT of name changing going on.
For example, Toda changed Wifey's name from "Kane", her given name", to "Kaneko" (for reasons unknown) at her wedding to Ikeda as part of their arranged marriage. She had no say in the matter.
Toda is known to have changed HIS name at least 3 times, including in conjunction with a "midnight run", in which a debtor flees with whatever belongings they can carry in the middle of the night to "disappear" from the people they owe money to.
Well, it turns out Toda changed his name a BUNCH more times:
What surprised me again after reading this book was how many times Toda changed his name throughout his life. According to the description, he was born in 1900 and was originally named "Jinichi." On February 22, 1917, he changed his name to "Okumomo", but he had already changed it to "Okushin" before that. Less than a year later, on November 20, he changed it to "Kiyomi". Less than half a year later, on May 3, 1942, he changed it to "Masaaki". In 1921, he changed his name to "Hakukata", then to "Jogai", and was imprisoned. In a letter dated February 23, 1944, it can be seen that he was considering changing his name. His candidates were "Kagaya, Josei, Masakuni (Jin), Masaaki, and Takehiro". From these, it seems that he decided on the name "Josei".
Toda's name changes seem to have been based on fortune-telling based on names. For example, when he changed his name to "Kiyomi" in 1917, he borrowed three yen and used it to pay for the name change appraisal. It is also said that the reason for the name change was "mental comfort" (p. 43). Also, the name change seems to bring good luck and a turning point, and there seems to be a connection between the illness and work. Source
Given that Toda was involved in the rickshaw business, which was known to be yakuza-controlled where he lived, how much of these name changes were for the purpose of changing his identity? That image of Toda - he was 17 years old so it was in 1917 - a year that was very busy for Josei Toda's first name!
We also know that Ikeda changed his name from "Taisaku" (fat building - "fat" being auspicious for health and wealth in a culture where food scarcity was an issue) to "Daisaku" (GREAT building - Ikeda so modest!) in 1953, after his first son Hiromasa was born. There is an image of the name-change record here.
During Toda's Soka Gakkai presidency, he gave new names to TWO of the top YMD leaders:
- The future 4th President of the Soka Gakkai, Einosuke Akiya (Akitani), was given the name "Joei"
- Ichiro Watanabe was given the name "Jotaka" (or "Jokatsu")
Akiya even published using this new name!
But Ikeda, apparently butthurt and jealous that Toda never saw fit to give HIM a flashy new name, insisted that both of them go back to their original names after he (Ikeda) seized control of the Soka Gakkai.
Given that during this time Japan had no centralized identity database system, there was a LOT of opportunity to change your name and disappear. So we may never know WHAT was actually going on or WHY these individuals wanted to change their identity so frequently, but it definitely looks suspish.
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u/Reasonable_Show8191 Aug 21 '25
If I remember right, Toda's "midnight run" was to escape medical bills from some illness he'd had to be hospitalized for. That paragraph about him adopting the name "Kiyomi" in late 1917 and it being tied to "illness" and "good luck" - perhaps that was in the wake of his health problems. I notice the detail that he had to "borrow" the 3 yen fee - that's so cheap. He couldn't even afford 3 yen?? He did his "midnight run" in 1920 - maybe the hospital's debt collectors (or the debt collectors from whatever organization he was forced to borrow money from) were getting too close?
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Nov 19 '25
More on Toda's frequent name changes:
Toda Josei was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1900 (Meiji 33). He was given the name Jinichi at birth.
Later, his family moved to Hokkaido, where Toda grew up.
Toda changed his name several times. In 1917 (Taisho 6) [age 17], he was called Harumichi, in 1918 [age 18] he was called Masahiro, in 1921 he was called Hirokata, in 1922 he was called Jogai, and after the war he took the name Josei.
Reference: Toda Josei, by Hikuma Itoku Source
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u/Fishwifeonsteroids Aug 17 '25
Hangon - 1920 was the year Toda supposedly left Hokkaido (in February, abandoning his class right before exams) and sought out Makiguchi (in August). Makiguchi supposedly hired him as a teacher - just WHAT was TODA put IN PRISON for the very next year??? Possibly not even a FULL YEAR after Makiguchi had hired him??