Soka Gakkai International : About SGI > SGI Around the World

Daniel Gomez

The SGI movement in the Dominican Republic was launched by Japanese immigrants back in the 1960s. Between 1956 and 1959, 1,319 Japanese citizens, a total of 249 families, moved to the Dominican Republic in response to the government's appeals for immigrants. However, many of the locations where the immigrants settled proved infertile and incapable of supporting life. As a result, the government decided to send the immigrants back home, and during 1961 and 1962, 133 of the original 249 families returned to Japan. Another 70 families moved on to countries in South America.

Takeshi Nishio

One of the immigrants who stayed behind, farmers of the "barren" land, was Kurato Kimura. In 1962, the fifth year after he immigrated, as he struggled to find a way to survive against the odds, he received a letter from his mother in Japan, encouraging him to test the effectiveness of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Inspired by this, he decided to start practicing Buddhism. Around that time he met a man called Jun'ichi Nishio, who had started to practice Nichiren Buddhism in Japan before emigrating, and together they launched activities in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Nishio had come to the Dominican Republic with his family of seven in 1956. His son, Takashi, is currently general director of SGI-Dominican Republic.

Another early immigrant, Norio Inuyama, started practicing in 1972 after Mr. Kimura introduced him to Buddhism. Mr. Inuyama had come to the Dominican Republic in 1957, and had moved to progressively better land during his time in the country. He recalls, "Our biggest challenge was how we could possibly improve the environment we found ourselves in, because the land we had was poor and every time it rained our crops were destroyed. In the end, this struggle was the best chance to prove the effectiveness of this religion." Now, Mr. Inuyama runs a successful agricultural export business.

SGI-Dominican Republic now consists of 1,500 members. The pioneer members used their faith to develop the strength to overcome the hardships of eking out a living from the stony fields, and in so doing helped plant the seeds of peace and prosperity in the Dominican Republic.

In February 2002, five hundred members gathered in the culture center in the capital, Santo Domingo, and held a special general meeting to commemorate the 15th anniversary of SGI President Ikeda's visit to our country in 1987. In front of an audience made up of people from all walks of life--teachers, lawyers, doctors, accountants, musicians and businesspeople--Mr. Kimura called on the youth members to take responsibility for our country's future in the 21st century, while General Director Nishio emphasized the importance of winning trust in society as good citizens.

Our youth activities have really taken off in recent years. Since 1998 we have been promoting a reforestation movement. In the Dominican Republic, deforestation has resulted in pollution of the water supply, which has become a serious problem. In September 1998, Hurricane George destroyed swathes of forestland, and this inspired us to take action. We vowed to restore the forests with our own hands. In November of that year, 76 members planted about 2,500 pines and other trees in a mountainous area. Since then, we have continued the reforestation project every year on SGI Day (January 26).


The first reforestation activity by SGI-Dominican Republic youth members in 1998

The number of people participating in this project has increased each year, and in the last five years we have planted a total of 35,000 trees. Starting this year, in parallel with the tree-planting project, we also organized a forum under the name "Think, Feel and Act for Reforestation" together with the Pan-American Health Organization. The informed perspectives offered by environmentalists and other experts promoted an awareness of the serious problems caused by the indiscriminate harvesting of the country's forestry resources.

The SGI's "Symbiosis and Hope: The Amazon--Its Environment and Development" exhibition was shown in the Dominican Republic in March and April 2001, and made a perfect complement to the reforestation project. Some 16,000 people visited the exhibition, which had a positive impact.

Sustainable development is the key concept for the 21st century. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, the SGI has been promoting the idea that the 10 years from 2005 be designated the international decade of education for sustainable development. During this period, the aim is to promote environmental education throughout the world. The youth division of SGI-Dominican Republic is determined to seize this chance to make a major contribution to society by pressing ahead with our reforestation project, as we feel this represents a meaningful form of environmental education.

Dr. and Mrs. Rodríguez talking with Mr. and Mrs. Ikeda in Tokyo (February 2002)

In the field of education, one of the Dominican Republic's oldest newspapers, La Informacíon, has featured SGI President Ikeda's activities for culture and education on many occasions. Dr. Príamo A. Rodríguez, the founder and rector of the Santiago Technical University (Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago; UTESA) who is the paper's editor and proprietor, met with SGI President Ikeda last February, visiting Soka University and signing an academic exchange agreement.

On that occasion, President Ikeda said the following words, which were very inspiring to us:

"We see religion and education as complementary. Religious faith is a matter of the individual's inner state of being, and education addresses the development of society as a whole. If a religious organization remains closed off within the realm of religion alone, it can become estranged from society and easily lapse into self-righteousness. Education, on the other hand, brings life into full flower and illuminates the human spirit. In order to properly carry out this kind of education, a philosophical and religious foundation is indispensable. Because education is intended for people, it should possess a perspective on life and humanity that is eternal and universal."