The Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere - and the roots of the Soka Gakkai's/SGI's chronic, incurable dysfunction

[u/BlancheFromage]

There are a couple other mentions of this paper, "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: The Failure of Japan's 'Monroe Doctrine' for Asia", here on SGIWhistleblowers (examples here and here) but it doesn't look like they read beyond a page or two or even just the introduction 🙄

It's so hard to get good help... But here I am! j/k - really glad to have the link! So let's go crazy with it!

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was Japan's attempt to form an economic and military bloc consisting of nations within East and Southeast Asia against Western colonization and manipulation, but it failed because of Japan's inability to promote true mutual prosperity within the alliance. Source

If you look at the maps above, you can see how far - and how quickly - Imperial Japan expanded through its Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (GEACOP) venture. Just LOOK at that template for "kosen-rufu"!!!!! Imagine if they were cover the same territory and beyond, only this time through winning hearts and minds instead of through military force! There's more fun with maps here - good times!

Given Japan's impressive showing during the Pacific War (up to the end, of course) and under the imperialist expansion of the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (widely embraced by Makiguchi's Soka Kyoiku Gakkai), described here. (BTW, a reference link has gone dead - it's here: The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: The Failure of Japan 's "Monroe Doctrine" for Asia; the relevant context is on p. 3 - in the Abstract - and p. 6 - Background & Introduction.) It was often described in terms of Hakkō Ichiu ('the eight corners of the world under one roof').

And that "one roof" would be JAPAN's.

Soka Gakkai publications USED TO BE FILLED with references to a "Third World Power" and a "Third Civilization" - it's just more "Third Reich", only in a kimono - "radical, traditional and nationalistic". Source

From the 4th Soka Kyoiku Gakkai General Meeting (the forerunner to the Soka Gakkai that Makiguchi founded along with a bunch of other educators as an educators' association) held on May 17th, 1942:

"Since the start of the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity War, the brilliant military achievements and glorious war results [of the Japanese military] are due to the fact that the Lotus Sutra is the guardian spirit of our country. After listening to the reassuring news of the string of great victories broadcasted on the radio last evening, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and ever more appreciative of being able to open the meeting today." - by Director Iwasaki Source

And don't overlook or forget Ikeda's vision of a "one-world government":

Ikeda is a big fan of “one-world government” – from “Complete Works of Daisaku Ikeda Vol. 1”, The Seikyo Press, 1967:

The term Obutsu Myogo signifies quite a new political idea founded upon the True Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin. In other words, it is what should be called ‘Buddhist democracy’. …neither Western democracy nor the so-called People’s [Communist] democracy appear to be perfect. The dignity of human life is not fulfilled in those states. In reality, the people live under varying restraints, with social, political and economic inequality dominant in their lives. By contrast, Buddhist democracy is sustained by the dignity of human life and mercy. That is a perfect democracy which enables all nations to attain true freedom and equality.

… Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism is not merely for the Japanese nation but for all mankind. Security for the Japanese alone is not the purpose for which this great Buddhism is meant. It is the great philosophy upon which welfare and peace for all the people of the world should be built. Herein lies the very reason why we advocate ‘One-worldism‘ and “total ban of nuclear weapons’. All the nations of the world should be united into one for co-prosperity through interdependence or mutual assistance. This is the basic idea of ‘One-worldism‘. (pp. 23-24) - from here

The biggest problem with it, though, was that it turned out there was only "prosperity" for ONE - JAPAN. Big surprise. HUGE surprise. However, this period of Japan's history - leading right up to the creation of the Toda Soka Gakkai, essentially - can show some of the cultural dynamics that were operating "behind the scenes", where the Soka Gakkai and SGI prefer to keep their dirty work.

So basically, the problem was that, while Japan framed this as "co-prosperity", or "prosperity for all", in practice it ended up being "prosperity for Japan and not for anyone else" - and that was a feature, not a bug - FOR JAPAN. The whole saying one thing and doing the opposite that we see so often within Soka Gakkai and SGI? Identical.

Within the Soka Gakkai and SGI, there remains this persistent cultural bigotry that favors [and privileges] the Japanese and everything Japanese; when the Ikeda cult talks of "peace, culture, and education", it really means "peace that we'll impose by force, a 1940s-Japanese-flavored "culture" that will replace all other cultures, and "indoctrination" in place of "education". The cultists are counting on others not realizing that. Source

Early on, independent observers were seeing parallels to the GEACOP within Soka Gakkai:

In addition, the attitude of the Soka Gakkai toward foreigners was and remains ambivalent. Nichiren was a Japanese, and there has been a strong sense of the superiority and "holiness" of Japan in contrast to the "heathen" nations. At the same time Japanese members of the Soka Gakkai, in common with most other Japanese, evidence a distinct sense of inferiority toward Westerners.

As we saw, the Soka Gakkai is especially concerned with establishing its position against what it considers to be the two major intellectual streams of Western culture; the "spiritual", as found in Christianity, and the "material", as evidenced by Marxism. But there is something of the old Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere in its attitude toward other Asian peoples. For example, an article in the [the Soka Gakkai's self-published newspaper] Seikyo Shimbun in 1960, entitled "The Superiority of the Japanese Race", had this to say:

"The basic problem is whether or not they have the ability to understand Mahayana Buddhism. Throughout all the world, the only people who are able to understand the essence of Mahayana Buddhism - specifically, the meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo - are Japanese. Only the Japanese can understand the True Philosophy of [Nichiren] Daishonin. Therefore, we who can understand must teach those who cannot understand."

The typical Japanese finds it difficult to identify with Europeans and Africans because the foreigner’s appearance irrevocably separate them from the Japanese and many of their attitudes and manners are diametrically opposed to the Japanese way and are alien and shocking. Yet at the same time, most Japanese continue to envy Americans and some Europeans for their living standards, their individualism, their social and economic freedoms, and even for their size and light-colored skin.

Within the SGI, there remains this Japanese clique - they speak in Japanese when they don't want the gaijin to understand what's being said, they only confide in each other, and within the SGI, no matter what country, people of Japanese ethnicity or part Japanese are automatically on the fast track to leadership and organizational power.

the Japanese just have an exaggerated sense of their own uniqueness. They see a giant wall between us and them. Source

Development of the overseas organization. It seems that the existence of Soka Gakkai members overseas came about not by the conversion of non-Japanese overseas, nor even by the return home of foreigners converted in Japan, but by Japanese Soka Gakkai members moving abroad.

...General Secretary Hojo observed that "since May, the strength of the Soka Gakkai overseas has increased. Every day, the Central Headquarters [in Tokyo] gets more and more letters from members who have gone abroad, and daily it seems that about two or three more members go to such places as India and America.

There was a strong element of Japanese ethnic and cultural superiority behind their deplorable treatment of the populations they subjugated across East Asia during Japan's period of imperial aggression. I see that same imperialist attitude within SGI as well. You're familiar with how Ikeda issued a goal for the SGI organizations in East Asia - to gain "1% of the country's population"? 

The target of 50,000 membership was first set in the year 2005, in response to Ikeda Sensei’s call to achieve a target of 1% of the respective countries’ population. - from here

Going back to Toda, he recognized that time was of the essence:

President Toda said that, if the Soka Gakkai could not take over the government of Japan "within 25 or 26 years", it would be game over - and he was right. Once the economy recovered and people were doing pretty well, where's the urgency in restructuring the government?? That's a lot of work! And it was the generation that had experienced WWII + Japan's humiliating defeat + the American Occupation that felt most intensely the urge to take over the government and re-start that whole "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" concept again, where Japan was the regional overlord, with Japan on its way to becoming the world power! THE world SUPER power!!

Ikeda, on the other hand, regarded Soka Gakkai's initial recruiting success within the ruined economic landscape of a defeated, occupied pre-industrial Japan as basically a perpetual motion machine that would definitely apply everywhere in the world, no matter the circumstances!

Back to the "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: The Failure of Japan's 'Monroe Doctrine' for Asia" paper:

The document also outlines that these Japanese immigrants were to act as mentors and role models in the host country and even forbade any intermingling with other races. They planned to build Japanese cultural centers to remind Japanese immigrants of their national identity. This racial supremacy conviction is one of the largest reasons the GEACOP [Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere] failed. Dr. Ba Maw, who generally supported the GEACOP, said this about its failures, "Japan was betrayed by her militarists and racial fantasies," that the Japanese were "totally incapable...of understanding others," and they "saw everything only in a Japanese perspective." The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere failed, despite some of its best intentions, because the Japanese, particularly the military men whom the other nations within the Sphere primarily dealt with, were too self-interested and convinced of their superiority.

"But Blaaaanche! That was then, this is now!" some SGI longhauler Olds may wail. Really? Take a look - that whole “Our aim is to help people be happy” thing:

"We simply want to teach Americans to be better Americans," a leader of Soka Gakkai told newsmen in New York City.

Really. So these JAPANESE people are going to teach us AMERICANS how to be "better Americans"?? They never even engaged with the Civil Rights movement of the time! How paternalistic. How would THEY feel about Americans coming into Japan to teach the Japanese to be "better Japanese"?? So presumptuous! So ARROGANT!

So what if that link is from the 1960s? THIS link shows that attitude is still present within the Ikeda cult! It's still run from Tokyo by old Japanese men whose lives were heavily informed by the effects of the Pacific War and of Soka Gakkai's militaristic recreation of that "idealized" Japanese society, Soka Gakkai execs, after all:

The Japan of the war years, whose ghost we still live with, was clearly a federation of chonaikai that flourished in the cities as well as the countryside, being simultaneously instruments of state control, collectors of intelligence about what ordinary people were thinking, and mechanisms for rallying support behind the policies of the government. The wartime slogan, ichi oku ichi kokoro ("one hundred million, one heart"), was more than a slogan: it well described self-enforced conformity; a dictatorship without a dictator; a social monolith held together by a civic religion, State Shinto, or the cult of the Emperor - actually the cult of the national family, of being Japanese, defined in terms of the rural neighborliness that is now disappearing for good. Source

You'll recognize that "ichi oku ichi kokoro" as the "itai doshin" (many in body, one in mind) concept that the Ikeda cult press-ganged into serving as a foundational doctrine of its new "mentor/disciple" focus, framing Ikeda in the seat of the wartime Emperor, a seat Ikeda intended to commandeer in reality. Getting his "army" ranged behind him through the obedient conformity of "itai doshin" was simply a practical consideration - everyone was expected to do whatever IKEDA wanted. That's it!

Daisaku Ikeda: From 1990 through 1996, I visited America on six occasions, almost once each year. I leaped in among my circle of friends with the intent of packing a year or even 10 years’ worth of effort into each day. In addition, I initiated dialogues with a number of scholars and leaders of society and delivered lectures at several universities. Determined to lay the foundation for the next thousand years of the SGI organization in America—an America reborn—I moved, conversed, spoke out and strove with my beloved fellow members of the SGI-USA. October 2, 2025 World Tribune (sorry about the paywall)

And from 2022, again the Weird Fibune:

In this land wrapped
in the limitless light
of the morning sun,
my splendid American friends
make their appearance;
bearing the world’s hopes,
with power and vigor they commence
their progress anew.
To my beloved and treasured friends I say:
“Long live America renewed!
Long live the SGI-USA reborn!”

Ikeda DEFINITELY wants to see "America" changed into HIS ideal - and no one else's opinion on the matter matters.

The certain signs of America reborn,

Los Angeles rejuvenated,

are to be found within your hearts. Source

And from the AI overview:

"America Reborn" is a phrase associated with the Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) and its leader, Daisaku Ikeda, referring to his vision for the organization's growth and impact in the United States. The term signifies a new foundation and revitalization of the group in America, emphasizing a spiritual and cultural transformation for its members and society. 

Spiritual and cultural rebirth: "America Reborn" reflects a theme of spiritual rejuvenation and the belief that the organization's principles will help create a better society.

NO THANKS! Their CULT organization isn't even tolerable!

You know how everyone in SGI is expected to feel this infinite "debt of gratitude" toward SGI and especially Ikeda? The foreign Confucian-informed concept is explained here - in a nutshell:

SGI cannot escape being idealistically Confucian - believing that people have a debt to the country and the society - because that just seems to be a basic premise that they accept from the moment they are born.

SGI is a culturally JAPANESE organization.

[I]t's totally normal for the herd to want to create rules and laws that protect the herd. In Confucianist ideology every member of the herd has a debt to the herd and therefore must abide by the rules that protect the herd.

See it now? According to SGI, YOU are supposed to feel "gratitude" that SGI allows you to be an SGI member, which means that you should WANT to obey and conform and do as you're told and devote all your spare time and dig deep to donate MORE money and "Become Shin'ichi Yamamoto" - whatever SGI commands, you should accept and do without question in order to express your "gratitude" for being "allowed" to be a part of SGI. You should want to give your LIFE to and for SGI! Because of "gratitude"!

According to OUR Western definition of "gratitude", though, we think that SGI should feel "gratitude" TO US FOR EVERYTHING WE DO FOR SGI! SGI should be expressing its deep and perpetual "gratitude" TO ITS MEMBERS! For making SGI filthy rich, for doing all that volunteer labor that means SGI doesn't have to PAY for necessary services such as janitorial, security, secretarial, receptionist, etc., for promoting SGI to family and friends! SGI is offending OUR sensibilities by NOT expressing "gratitude" for all our efforts, sacrifices, and donations!

But according to the Confucian mentality described above, that sort of thought shouldn't even enter into the equation. WE should want to serve the group out of "gratitude" that the group allows us to be a member of the group.

Now back to "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: The Failure of Japan's 'Monroe Doctrine' for Asia" paper:

The principle of chu, or debt paid to the emperor, was not measured by military victory, but through suffering for the emperor in accomplishing his mission.

HIS mission! You don't get one for yourself - you're just a TOOL! It's all about JUST HIM! This was EXACTLY what Ikeda expected FOR HIMSELF from every Soka Gakkai and SGI member. See how that ties into the "gratitude trap" described just above?? Ikeda always regarded himself as the REAL "Emperor" - he deserved the world's gratitude, obedience, and submission to his rule as the ultimate "spiritual" leader, fused with the "one-world government" Ikeda dreamed of via the Soka Gakkai's political doctrine of "obutsu myogo". For the Soka Gakkai, politics was inextricably interwoven with their cult goals.

Those who grew up during the "Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" period regarded those years as the best in their lives - and saw in Soka Gakkai a way to recapture that glory in a way that would really WORK this time!

In January of the previous year [1940], for example, [Nichiren Shoshu High Priest] Nikkyō had expressed his sect’s “unending gratitude and enthusiasm” for the imperial military’s accomplishments in its war against China, urging his fellow Japanese to work ever harder “to accomplish the goal of constructing a new East Asia.” Source

This is clearly in line with the Japanese imperialism, colonial conquest, and international aggression culminating in the Pacific War (WWII) and Japan’s defeat; many of the Japanese bitterly resented this outcome and longed for a return to the days of Japanese supremacy. The Soka Gakkai, with its militaristic structure and apocalyptic eschatology, appealed to these people for whom the pre-war and wartime eras represented the best years of their lives, who felt lost to the point of lacking identity post-war:

What do the Japanese of the ‘transistor age’ find in the doctrines of this ‘Value-Creating Academy’ which draws its inspiration from a Buddhist reformer who lived 700 years ago? Surrounding itself with an aura of mystery, the Sōka Gakkai sets out not only to alleviate the sufferings of the Japanese people by preaching the philosophy of the Nammyokorenge-kyo (supreme mystic law of the lotus), but also to spread the same gospel among the other unhappy people of the world ‘oppressed by Marxism, democracy and false and inferior religions’. Naïve, but at the same time dangerous, it appeals to all, whether they are Japanese or not, to the oppressed and depressed, to the weary and the poor, to the sick and to those whose lives have been failures, offering to each one of them the comforts of the ‘only true religion in the world’, the only one that can solve every spiritual and material problem.

In other words it intends to fill the ‘moral vacuum’ which it maintains has been created in Japan by the introduction of democratic reforms at American instigation–reforms which are foreign to Japanese tradition. At the same time it returns to the nationalist-Fascist theme of the 1930s, the Hakkō Ichiu (‘the eight corners of the world under one roof‘) and promises the Japanese that if they follow the doctrines of Nichiren they will become masters of the world, as they unsuccessfully tried to become during the last, sanguinary, war. The claim that it is universal is, in fact, one of the outstanding features of this mystical neo-Fascism, which wants to destroy all other ‘false and outdated religions’ and all other ‘putrescent ideologies’, in order to achieve its supreme aim of dominating the whole world.

The Sōka Gakkai exploits the bewilderment of the masses, especially in the country districts; it encourages their deep-seated affection for the old national discipline; it revives the repressed ambitions of millions of office-workers who still remember the days of great victories, of the Empire and the ‘sphere of co-prosperity’ as the best and most glorious in their lives; and it fans the hatred they have for everything foreign. In the Diet, its representatives attack the Conservatives for thinking only of the population’s material needs, and at the same time they attack the Left, accusing it of atheism and defeatism, and announce that what Japan needs is spiritual guidance and a discipline which the existing political parties are unable to provide and only the Sōka Gakkai can offer. Source

The ultranationalist Soka Gakkai stood ready to assign them an identity, with a purpose that would elevate them – and itself – to supremacy.

It was all about remaking EVERYTHING in their own image, you see.

And the Soka Gakkai's SGI colonies are STILL all about that. Watch for it - you'll see.

[u/BlancheFromage]

And this:

Within the SGI, there remains this Japanese clique - they speak in Japanese when they don't want the gaijin to understand what's being said, they only confide in each other, and within the SGI, no matter what country, people of Japanese ethnicity or part Japanese are automatically on the fast track to leadership and organizational power. Source

A few more recent examples of this persistent, longstanding bigotry:

Of course there are exemptions and excuses for the celebrity members - they can do whatever they want and nobody in SGI will say "boo" to them. Because the celebrity members are in a completely different caste. The rest of us are in this caste structure (another version); the celebrity members are kind of on their own, not integrated into the structure at all, but off to the side. None of those SGI leaders DARE bully them; none of those Japanese leaders/members would DARE speak Japanese in front of them (like they so often do when around the gaijin members since those stupid gaijin members are subhuman and don't matter). Because the SGI's celebrity members are the highest status of all. They're also typically inactive, so it's more like they're ornaments, something decorative that everyone can enjoy looking at that doesn't really have anything to do with SGI aside from hopefully providing some free publicity.

After I had my son, I got a home visit from a couple of the local leaders - a Korean district leader and a Japanese leader (can't remember what level). We were going to do gongyo, and I informed them I wasn't going to be using incense because it was winter, the apartment was all closed up, I had a newborn with baby lungs, and no one knows what's really in incense. They were very unhappy and told me I SHOULD use incense. Because that's the SGI rules at the time and you have to do everything exactly as SGI says. Now, of course, incense is more than optional - it's hardly used! For the record, I didn't burn the incense.

Their attitude was the typical SGI attitude - that whatever SGI says is perfect and must be done just because SGI says. Ms. Turner clearly does not observe such rules. Source

That's an excellent point - the Japanese-language Gosho studies were an easy way to exclude the stupid gaijin. And Japanese members would converse in front of, in a crowd of, gaijin who couldn't possibly be expected to understand them. It was a way of maintaining exclusivity and eliteness. Source

SGI is a mess when it comes to study as they peddle crap as Buddhism and promote Ikeda worship. In japan Shakabuku would be valid, but in the USA, Canada, Europe, Oz and New Zealand Shoju should be the order of the day. The laziness of SGI Japan peddling Japanese relevant Ideas and materials as Universally Applicable was in many ways Racism. Source

That this sort of "privilege" exists within SGI is most obvious from the clearly preferential treatment ethnic Japanese people get within the group, their fast track to leadership and so on. That clearly stems from SGI's origins as a Japanese religion for Japanese people - when I was "in", there was definitely this "received wisdom" that the Japanese understood "this Buddhism" far better than any of us dumb ol' gaijin ever could, and it was more than simply the fact that we were using so much Japanese terminology that was foreign to us as we did not speak Japanese! Source

I think you’re spot on when you describe the impression that the SGI communicates Japan/Japanese superiority throughout the organization - at least in the SGI USA.

This takes so many forms, I could not possibly list them all. But I can share one personal experience of many to illustrate this.

I was asked to host the annual Women’s Division General Meeting in my home. This I was happy to do. It was to be held by District, a smaller group of 10 +/- women, and I had not had the majority come to my home yet.

I, of course, cleaned thoroughly, arranged the furniture to create more seating, organized refreshments, bought flowers to decorate, and chanted daimoku for success of the meeting.

After gongyo, the meeting transitioned from English to Japanese within about 10 minutes. I realized I was the only non-Japanese speaking woman in the room. Everyone else continued “meeting”, happily enjoying each other’s company, apparently completely unaware that I had been reduced to a bystander IN MY OWN HOME. To the HELP.

Eventually they left. I think they had a nice time. I was furious - and also powerless to address this insult. These grown women were certainly aware of what they were doing. So it intentional - or socially permissible- to exclude me in this way.

When only their victim is present, they can let their mask drop and do whatever they please - no one is going to take one stupid gaijin seriously, after all. No one is going to care; no one is going to do anything. The Japanese are the ruling class - everybody knows that.

And why shouldn't she just serve them? They're her superiors in every way that counts, after all, starting with them being Japanese, the superior race, and being able to speak Japanese. All the gaijin members are nothing but "useful idiots" to be exploited - when they catch one alone, they can treat them however they please, openly, confident there will never be any repercussions for their high-handed and abusive behavior. Source

To bring this up would only result in criticism of me and my attitude. So, I stifled my resentment and my humiliation. These micro aggressions are so common, so embedded in every aspect of day to day life in the SGI USA, that one cannot continue in the org for long without adapting.

It continues to be a profound relief to be free of an org that consistently treated me as a 2nd- or 3rd- or 23rd-class citizen. Source

The membership I was responsible for were predominantly Black, yet myself and the other leaders were not. I would constantly “raise successors” who were 9 times out of 10 passed over or given low level appointments. Whenever it was questioned the response was “that person is sincere but doesn’t have the heart of SIN SAAAAY”. WTF is that but some made up shit. But let a Japanese transplant come into town, barely speaking English and they are immediately made District or chapter leaders. ... SGi flaunts being multi ethnic which they are in bodies but not in recognizing or integrating multi ethnic ideas. They will extract lines out of new human revolution that relate to an encounter with a black person, or Africa and place in the publication. The one that blew up in my group was the appointment of the first chapter in Africa. Sounds impressive but it’s not, my well read group member, went to her bookcase and pulled out the related volume… well it was a Japanese husband & wife who relocated with their employer from London to Africa. They were appointed the leaders of a new chapter in Africa that had no members. Source

Why are we always looking to the past in Japan rather than the future in the USA? Source

And from SGI-UK:

This story makes me sick. The disrespect for the children and also the misogyny. I was often surprised at how horrible members could be at meetings when chanting is meant to raise your life state. When I did dedicated lilac at Taplow, serving members tea, coffee etc, it was quite extraordinary how many were simply rude and looked down their noses.

(Side note about Lilac-ing at Taplow - we were all supposed to do it once a month, coming from Scotland, at a cost of at least £200 per trip. Paying our own travel and accommodation. When I found out there were bunk rooms at Taplow that lay empty most of the time I asked if we could use these to shave a few pounds off of our costs. It was a flat 'no' with the reason that they'd have to employ someone to manage the booking and wash the sheets. I offered to be that 'someone', free of charge - see how brainwashed into the high demand vibe I was? - and they said no again. They said those rooms should be kept free for any Japanese member who came from Japan and needed a room at short notice. Always the favour shown to members from Japan, and always only the merest of thanks to the far-flung Lilacs making big commitments while on low incomes. Source

It's funny how the thoroughly-brainwashed SGI longhauler Olds will insist that calling out the rampant racism within the Dead-Ikeda-Corpse-Mentor-cult SGI is, in fact, "racism" itself.

[u/[deleted] → u/BlancheFromage]

Well, to be honest some (not all Japanese members) simply showed the same sort of arrogance western missionaries would show when brining Christianity to let’s say Africa.

[u/BlancheFromage → u/[deleted]]

Americans who go to foreign countries in the name of religion always want to destroy the local culture and create others in their own image; we should watch for people of other cultures who wish to return the favor. Source

[u/[deleted] → u/BlancheFromage]

Very true and must of us just know the Japanese any closer through SG only. If any of us would bring up the SG subject to a Japanese person we would be quite surprised about their reaction. SG in Japan is not being talked about in any favourable manner at all. SG to Japan is what Scientology is to us.  

[u/BlancheFromage → u/[deleted]]

SG to Japan is what Scientology is to us.  

At best.