アメリカ創価学会(SGI-USA)の歴史と創価学会の海外布教の過程を、一次資料や関係者への現地調査をもとに、宗教社会学の視点から明らかにする。戦後、ヒッピー文化ただ中のアメリカにおいて、日蓮仏法はどのように受け入れられたのか。渡米し布教の中心的役割を担った日本人や日系人たちによって信仰はどのように伝えられていったのか。併せて高度成長期以降の日本における創価学会本体の変容も鳥瞰している。『アメリカ創価学会〈SGI-USA〉の55年』(2017年、新曜社)の英訳版。
The Soka Gakkai is the most well-known and the largest of new religious movements (NRMs) in Japan. This book analyzes the history of the SGI-USA(Soka Gakkai International-USA) and the Soka Gakkai’s evangelizing in the U.S. from a sociological perspective of religion. How did the Japanese Soka Gakkai come to be accepted by Americans and take root in American society in the U.S., a country with a very different culture and religion? How was Nichiren Buddhism accepted in the U.S. in the midst of the postwar hippie culture? How was the faith transmitted to the United States by the Japanese and Nikkei who played a central role in the missionary work? The authors’ 15 visits to the U.S., in which they participated in local events of the organization and interviewed more than 70 SGI members in the U.S., revealed these questions and provides a bird's-eye view of the transformation of the Soka Gakkai in Japan since the period of rapid growth. This book is the English translation of “America Soka Gakkai 〈SGI-USA〉 no 55 nen”(2017, Shinyosha Ltd.).