On October 3rd, 1984, Daisaku Ikeda's second oldest son, Shirohisa Ikeda, died in a Tokyo hospital at the young age of 29. The cause of death was gastric perforation (a hole in the s...tomach).
Following graduation from Soka University, Shirohisa Ikeda began his career as a staff employee of his alma mater. It is said that Daisaku Ikeda favored Shirohisa very much because his body type was similar to his own and as such, he was commonly regarded as his father's likely successor to lead the Soka Gakkai in the future. So why is it that Shirohisa suddenly died of a gastric perforation which, unless left untreated, is not normally fatal? In the 10th volume of Daisaku Ikeda's novel "Human Revolution," in the chapter called "A Steep Path," there is a passage which reads like a prediction of Ikeda's own son's death: "The father of Ittetsu Okada (who had made a counterfeit honzon) died in agony because of gastric perforation." By making counterfeit wooden honzons, Ikeda, himself, committed just such a grave slander thereby troubling High Priest Nittatsu Shonin greatly. And just seven years after the slanders of 1977, Ikeda, like the character in his novel, lost his most beloved son and successor due to gastric perforation.
Head Temple Taisekiji is located in Japan at the foot of Mt. Fuji. The land was donated by Nanjo Tokimitsu, a great lay patron of Nichiren Shoshu in the 13th century.
Nanjo Tokimitsu is proudly looked upon as a model of faith in True Buddhism. In the 13th century, he helped found the Head Temple Taisekiji and built a base to expand the propagation of the Law. His personal residence, (now) Myorenji Temple, became a branch of the Head Temple. [You can see his house/Myorenji Temple in the bottom left of the watercolor panorama.
