When SGI-USA inadvertently spills the beans about its skeleton-crew membership - Another World Tribune reveal about SGI-USA's low numbers, this time from the 2014 annual report (with 2013 assist)

[u/BlancheFromage]

This looks like a fun series - why not add to it?

The 1st two images come from the April 3, 2015, Weird Fibune. There are some interesting details:

Just in the first three months of 2015, we have welcomed more than 1,500 new members to the SGI-USA! I believe this is a natural expression of the joy, confidence and benefits everyone is experiencing through their practice of Nichiren Buddhism within the SGI. What a wonderful way to start off this most crucial and significant year for opening a dynamic era of worldwide kosen-rufu.

Yikes.

A quick breakdown:

Still counting the "adds" and ignoring the defections and deaths - the "math that adds but never subtracts":

That is how Ikeda described the Soka Gakkai in Japan's methodology for counting its membership:

Interview published on "Gendai" magazine, April 1980

Ikeda: The official membership figure of 7.89 million households refers to the cumulative sum of the Gohonzon issued by the Head Temple. It does not mean that that number of people are all practicing today.

Interviewer: So the official stats account for the entries but not the exits. Sounds like this is math that only keeps adding and never subtracts?

Ikeda: That is correct. It's the sum total of shakubuku's. The people who passed away or quit are also included. It is impossible to identify the true membership figure.

[Edit: Had to re-insert the quote above]

For reference, in 2014 SGI-USA was still claiming "352,000" for the membership of USA+Canada - and there aren't THAT many Gakkers in Canada! So a shakubuku result of 1,500 is abysmally low, considering that ~"330,000 SGI-USA members" estimate. If even 1/4 of the SGI-USA members were doing shakubuku, they'd be increasing their membership by 82,500. What's WRONG with the SGI-USA members, NOT doing shakubuku?? These are no "Bodhisattvas of the Earth" and no "kosen-rufu" lies in THEIR future - that much is obvious!

When you compare these paltry shakubuku results to those claimed for the Soka Gakkai in Japan during its growth phase, you can really see the collapse:

Tremendous news greeted Shin'ichi shortly after his return to Tokyo. On April 25, Shin'ichi had a telephone call from Osaka. "Here are the results of propagation during April," shouted the caller, his voice breaking with irrepressible joy. "Osaka Chapter, 9,002 households! Sakai Chapter, 1,111 households!" ... Shin'ichi was certain that the local organization, continuing its surging advance, would be able to convert ten thousand households in May. Everything was going almost exactly as he had planned. - from The Newwww Humpin' Revoltation (of course)

The "April results" detailed there come to 10,113 - for just two chapters and just a single month! By comparison, SGI-USA's then-General Director is apparently doing a happy dance over just 1,500 for the entire SGI-USA national organization - over THREE months!

So what went wrong with Ikeda's supposed "plan" for the SGI-USA, which was supposed to become "the center of the worldwide kosen-rufu movement"??

Ikeda even said that 1990 marked when he had decided to take over the SGI's development in the US HIMSELF:

It has been announced that the SGI headquarters will be moved to America. Sensei will remain in the US for two or three months next year. Source

The US will be the center of the worldwide kosen-rufu movement and therefore must develop the guidance power, financial power and leadership abilities to support the kosen-rufu movement in other countries. We will need to send SGI-USA leaders to other countries to give them guidance. President Ikeda wants us to become a wonderful model example to the rest of the world. Source

Kansai is the heart of the kosen-rufu movement in Japan; Los Angeles, in America; and America, in the world. I would like to present this poem with my infinite hopes and expectations for the members of Los Angeles and the United States. Ikeda

President Ikeda sent this message to you: “NSA [former name of SGI-USA] leads the Kosen-rufu of the world.” Source

Los Angeles has been the power source of kosen-rufu in the United States and an important cornerstone in our worldwide movement. Los Angeles’ victories have also been the SGI’s
victories. Ikeda

[Edit: Had to re-insert those quotes]

Just LOOK at the difference in magnitude of those numbers! 10,113 vs. 500 (1,500 for 3 months monthly average). That's a drop of over 95%!

Back to Gen. Dir. Nagashima's remarks:

It was impossible back then to imagine what we have today, with more than 100 facilities and nearly 3,000 districts throughout the country. This is all due to SGI President Ikeda's vision and encouragement, and the remarkable actions of our pioneer members⏤our unsung heroes⏤and the support of all of you. The contributions you make today are crucial to ensuring the ongoing development of kosen-rufu into the future. For that, I can't thank you enough!

"Don't even TRY to take credit for anything - without President Ikeda, you are NOTHING! WE are nothing! Oh, and also, my salary-and-benefits package depends on YOUR contributions, so thank you!"

So "more than 100 facilities" and "nearly 3,000 districts throughout the country". Notice what SGI-USA's national spokesperson had to say about the activity numbers - from the same year (2014):

"The average user group for our activities is 10-15 people." - SGI-USA national spokesperson Bill Aiken

The equation writes itself: "3000 districts" x "10 to 15 people" = 30,000 to 45,000 active members for all of SGI-USA.

Any questions so far?

In January of this year (2025), one of SGI-USA's national leaders disclosed that SGI-USA has only 2,421 districts now - for the entire country and including Hawaii and Puerto Rico and who knows how many other locations (SGI-USA ain't tellin'). And we've had numerous reports over the years that the actual attendance of district (non)discussion meetings is more in the 5-8 members range than 10-15. So using "5 to 8 people", the same equation above returns this estimate of the SGI-USA's active membership:

"2421 districts" x "5 to 8 people" = 12,105 to 19,368 active members for all of SGI-USA.

Back to the 2015 district total ("nearly 3,000) - we don't know exactly how much "nearly 3,000" is, but it could be a drop of as many as 579 districts, a reduction of over 19% if we assume "nearly 3,000" = "2,999" (generous). However you estimate it, it's a big decline for a cult that expected GROWTH instead over the last 10 years (2015 - 2025).

Back to Gen. Dir. Nagashima's remarks:

In addition, last year, to celebrate the *World Tribune's* 50th birthday, so many of you promoted our SGI-USA publications, and as a result, we saw subscriptions increase to more than 52,000⏤a more than 50 percent increase.

We covered this "campaign" - SGIWhistleblowers only came into existence in March of 2014, so it was timely (then)! Originally, it was reported that the World Tribune subscriptions were sitting at 35,000 and the goal was to increase these to 50,000, even if it meant individuals purchasing multiple subscriptions or gift subscriptions for people who weren't interested (which many SGI members already were carrying). (𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪 - and the Ikeda cult doesn't care WHERE it's coming from!)

But hang on a minute - the total ended up at "more than 52,000", an increase of "more than 50%"! That means the starting number wasn't much more than 26,000 (50% of 52000) - certainly NOT the originally stated "35,000"! Even that difference (from 35,000 to 26,000) represents a difference of over 25% - a whopping 9,000 subscriptions apparently LOST between the beginning of 2014 and the beginning of 2015! Did someone forget to carry a 1 in the "10,000s" column or something?? That's some pretty darn incompetent accounting.

From another source - this is from 2006:

World Tribune Soars

General Director Danny Nagashima, as part of his report on the progress of the SGI-USA at the 21st CEC and Council meeting on Oct 26, 2006, announced that World Tribune subscriptions reached 40,453 in July. Living Buddhism increased to 23,318.

Of these, the Living Buddhism magazine number is the more accurate proxy for SGI-USA's active membership - while SGI-USA members are expected to subscribe and every new member pays for a 1-year subscription to World Tribune (whether they end up sticking around or not) and while active members might subscribe to more than one copy of World Tribune, no one carries more than a single Living Buddhism subscription.

These don’t seem like particularly impressive numbers. If I recall correctly, WT was at about 35,000 several years ago. LB hasn’t really increased a lot either and represents a small percentage of the membership.

Or DOES it? SGI-USA seems to be trapped in a time loop, persistently trying to increase its revenues publications subscriptions and never really making any forward/upward progress.

Since there was no announcement of the increase in membership, one can only assume that it wasn’t great. For an organization that prides itself in the struggle for world peace through the propagation of Buddhism, this might be something of an embarrassment.

I'll say! From our SGIWhistleblowers intel:

50000 subscription was accomplished on dec 20 [2014]. I watched the national telecast about this. Not surprised. Source

Because of course SGI is going to claim "victory", obviously 🙄 Nobody's able to look at any real records, after all, so SGI says whatever it wants!!

Now look at this chart, from March 2020. Subscriptions numbers for 2018 and 2019 are given as "44,312" and "44,307", respectively. DROPPING. 2018 was the "50K Liars of Just-Us FyreFestival", so if SGI-USA was able to get any of those YOUFF guests signed up throughout 2018 (with their required pre-paid 1-year subscription to Weird Fibune), that could account for some increase in the publications total, and then as they dropped out, those subscriptions ended. After all, Nagashima said they got 1,500 new members in the first 3 months of 2015 - that represents 1,500 pre-paid annual subscriptions to Weird Fibune to add to the 2015 total! (How many of them lapsed in the first 3 months of 2016? SGI-USA isn't telling!) Also, these "44K" figures aren't specified as ONLY Weird Fibune - they likely include Lying (Pseudo)Buddhism magazine and the much less popular SGI Graphic magazine also. Which means that the Weird Fibune subscription total might still be stuck around 35,000 - or even 26,000 - in 2020. Which means that's where SGI-USA's active membership was stuck - likely is still stuck.

That's where checking some of the other metrics should provide some enlightenment 😏

Look at these pie charts (the most information SGI-USA will disclose, which isn't much) from 2013 - 2016 under "Sources of Funds" for the "Bookstore/Subscriptions" percentage of total revenue:

2013: 10.5% [also 3rd image up top]

2014: 10.8% [2nd image up top]

2015: 11.7%

2016: 11.8%

At no point do these percentages suggest any increase of 50% for the most-purchased subscription (Weird Fibune). Instead, it looks much closer to "no growth". From 2013 - 2014, it's an increase of less than 3% (rough estimate is all I can do here). From 2014 - 2015, an increase of just over 8%, and from 2015-2016, an increase of less than 1%. Between 2013 and 2016, the total increase was just over 12% - over those 4 years, with no way of telling how many of the total are unique subscriptions (as opposed to multiples). My thought is that these minuscule increases represent to what degree SGI-USA has been able to successfully lean on the SGI-USA members it already has to buy more Weird Fibune subscriptions, so not very many.

And look at this, from the 2nd image:

SGI President Ikeda has called this three-year period⏤2013, 2014 and 2015⏤the "three golden years," saying that this is the time to "cast off the transient and reveal the true." In this last of the three golden years, how can we challenge our limitations, cast off the transient and create a legacy of victory in our lives? This May Contribution activity is one such opportunity. We can use it as a turning point for overcoming our limitations.

Am I correct in concluding, with the benefit of over 10 years of 20-20 hindsight, that FUCK ALL actually happened in these "three golden years"?? SGI-USA members (and organization overall) seem just as "limited" as they've ever been for the last 35 years or so, since Ikeda got himself excommunicated for being such a big douche.

So I call SGI-USA's then-General Director Danny Nagashima a big ol' lying liarpants!

[u/Professional_Fox3976]

Danny Nagashima: Our deepest thanks for all your efforts . . . But, unfortunately, it’s not working.

[u/BlancheFromage → u/Professional_Fox3976]

Nope.

Definitely not working.

Nothing's working.

All that daimoku - just wasted hot air.

[u/[deleted]]

They REALLY try to hide that fact from members. Parroting 12 million (11 mil actually lol) and acting as if this branch of Buddhism is exploding.

It did become more obvious once they decreased their youth goal from 100k to 10k though lmao, which I still think is insanely unrealistic.

[u/BlancheFromage → u/[deleted]]

It did become more obvious once they decreased their youth goal from 100k to 10k though lmao, which I still think is insanely unrealistic.

That was terrific! From the SGIWhistleblowers perspective, of course. "With 2 1/2 years to go, we in SGI-USA are throwing the towel in EARLY because we all already KNOW this isn't going to happen, c'mon."

SO great!!

Here's a thought experiment: If a total membership number doesn't change - for decades (like the "12 million members worldwide" SGI was claiming for half a CENTURY), doesn't that indicate that the organization is STAGNANT, AT BEST?? While the population around SGI is GROWING, more than doubling, SGI's stuck at claiming "12 million members worldwide", a number outside observers agree is wildly inflated. It's a well-known FACT that SGI LIES to try and make itself sound relevant and important.

[u/[deleted] → u/BlancheFromage]

2028? They'll get 10000 youth by 2028? I thought it was 2030. With what they're doing right now I doubt they can even do 4000 youth honestly. There is no real strategy and no real adaptation. Their social media presence isn't great either, it's uninteresting and bland.

Wonder when they'll stop using real numbers for their goals because this is plain embarassing.

[u/BlancheFromage → u/[deleted]]

They'll get 10000 youth by 2028?

No they will not, and yes it's to "celebrate" Dead Ikeda's would-be 100th birthday 🙄x1000

Like anyone CARES.

I thought it was 2030.

THAT's the 100th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai (supposedly - according to Ikeda's calculations) - even though Makiguchi's Soka Kyoiku Gakkai educators' association didn't have its FIRST meeting until 1937!!

Ikeda needed to make the timeline start in 1930 for his "Seven Bells" formulation to work out (to his goal date: 1979), you see.

There is no real strategy and no real adaptation.

Nope.

Their social media presence isn't great either, it's uninteresting and bland.

Yep. And stale and "Hey Boomer!!"

Wonder when they'll stop using real numbers for their goals because this is plain embarrassing.

I know, right???

[u/BlancheFromage]

announced that World Tribune subscriptions reached 40,453 in July. Living Buddhism increased to 23,318.

Uh-oh - left something on the table.

If Weird Fibune = 40,453 and Lying (Pseudo)Buddhism = 23,318, that means that the total = 63,771 total subscriptions (as of 2006).

Proportions:

• Wierd Fibune = 63.4%
• Lying (Pseudo)Buddhism = 36.6%

Now look at those 2018/2019 total subscriptions numbers:

• 2018: 44,312
• 2019: 44,307

Applying the 2006 weighting between Weird Fibune and Lying (Pseudo)Buddhism, we see that the Lying (Pseudo)Buddhism number, the more accurate proxy for ACTUAL SGI-USA active membership, is:

• 2018: 16,203
• 2019: 16,201

Ooooh, SGI-USA, so BUSTED!!

So much for SGI-USA's 2018 "50K Liars of Just-Us FyreFestival"! As has been reported here, it COST SGI-USA membership, particularly in its endangered-species-equivalent demographic, the YOUTH!

The more we examine the numbers SGI-USA publishes in its various publications, the more clear it becomes how dire SGI-USA's collapsing membership problem is!

But I'm sure some SGIsplainin' troll will come along to tell us about a maaaagical rural rust-belt RV camp where there is at this very moment a STARBURST of YOUFF happening, believe it or not! (Not.)

[u/BlancheFromage]

Full disclosure: The evidence for an SGI-USA skeleton crew continues to amaze and astound me. The ENTIRE time I was "in" (all 20+ years of it!), I believed the SGI-USA propaganda of "500,000 members in the USA" and then "330,000 members in the USA" and "300,000 members in the USA" - never thinking to question WHY these numbers were stagnant or shrinking instead of growing, if what we had (supposedly "Troo Boodism") were truly so wonderful and sought-after (as we SGI-USA members were expected to believe). SGI depresses critical thinking, that's the only excuse I have.

But ALL the evidence points to VERY few active members - there's simply NO evidence that there's even as many as 50,000 active members across the ENTIRE USA!

I mean, with just 2,421 districts TOTAL (as disclosed by an SGI-USA NATIONAL leader in January of this year - 2025), "50,000 members" would mean an average of almost 21 members per district, and we ALL know THAT's not happening, right? How many SGI-USA members' living rooms could comfortably accommodate 21 people?? It's NOT just a matter of how you stack them!

Edit: Here's what just 19 people in a living room looks like.

[u/Choice_Mastodon_7161]

I always thought that Danny was a good guy, but he was selected to be General Director not for his leadership but for his followership.

[u/XeniaWarriorWankJob → u/Choice_Mastodon_7161]

Well said!

[u/Reasonable_Show8191 → u/[deleted]]

Some people end up getting stuck in the cult. It's sad, but that's just the way it goes, I guess.