Leadership

Rev. Nichiko Niwano, the eldest son of Founder Nikkyo Niwano, was born on March 20, 1938. After graduating from Rissho University in 1968, where he acquired a master’s degree in Buddhist studies, he entered Rissho Kosei-kai. During his career, he held the offices of head of the Dissemination Department and president of Gakurin, Rissho Kosei-kai’s seminary. Rev. Niwano succeeded to the presidency of Rissho Kosei-kai on November 15, 1991.

President Niwano regularly speaks about the Buddha’s wish for us to devote ourselves to the happiness of others and encourages us to enrich our inner spirituality by dedicating ourselves to this endeavor.

He is also an honorary president of Religions for Peace (RfP) International, a co-president of the Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (ACRP), and the honorary president of the Niwano Peace Foundation. He has been actively involved in promoting interreligious cooperation through his work with these organizations.

Rev. Niwano is the author of several works in English, including Cultivating the Buddhist Heart, Modern Meditations, The Inward Path, and My Father, My Teacher.

President-designate Kosho Niwano, the eldest daughter of President Nichiko Niwano, was born in Tokyo. After receiving a law degree from Gakushuin University in Tokyo, she studied at Rissho Kosei-kai’s Gakurin Seminary.

At present, Rev. Niwano devotes herself to sharing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra with leaders both in Japan and overseas as well as with the members who visit Rissho Kosei-kai’s headquarters in Tokyo for worship services and special events from all parts of the world. In order to understand the problems and suffering people face, she has visited needy countries in Asia and Africa

The president-designate also actively promotes interreligious cooperation, currently serving as a co-moderator of Religions for Peace (RfP) International, and a member of the Board of Directors of KAICIID (King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue).

Rev. Niwano published her first book in English, The Buddha in Everyone’s Heart, in 2013.

Rev. Nikkyo Niwano was born on November 15, 1906, in Niigata Prefecture, in central Japan. He went to Tokyo at the age of sixteen. After exploring various religious practices, he was introduced to the Lotus Sutra by Sukenobu Arai, who became his mentor.

On March 5, 1938, together with Cofounder Myoko Naganuma and some thirty other people, Rev. Niwano founded Rissho Kosei-kai with the aspiration to liberate all people through the teaching of the Lotus Sutra and make the world a better place. For the next six decades, Rev. Niwano shared the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, which lead people to a deeply fulfilling and altruistic way of life, in ways that anyone could understand. His dream of world peace inspired him to pave the way for interreligious cooperation through which the world’s various religions could work together toward achieving peace. In 1979 he was awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.

Guided by his unwavering belief in the spirit of the One Vehicle as embodied in the Lotus Sutra, Rev. Niwano devoted his entire life to the cause of achieving global peace and the liberation of all humankind. Rev. Niwano passed away on October 4, 1999, at the age of ninety-two. Rev. Niwano is also the author of several books on the Lotus Sutra and Buddhism, including Buddhism for Today, Shakyamuni Buddha, Buddhism for Everyday Life, and Invisible Eyelashes.

Rev. Myoko Naganuma was born on December 25, 1889, in Saitama Prefecture, just north of Tokyo. From a young age, she faced numerous challenges and losses, including the untimely death of her mother, living in poverty, and the heartbreaking loss of her daughter to illness. Later in life, she endured even more difficulties as her marriage ended and she suffered from illness for many years.

In the latter half of her life, Rev. Naganuma’s encounter with the Lotus Sutra, under the guidance of Founder Nikkyo Niwano, enabled her to embrace all the hardships she had endured with gratitude. Her singular focus was to bring happiness to others, and she lived a devoted religious life. As Vice President of Rissho Kosei-kai, she worked alongside Rev. Niwano to lay the foundation of the organization.

After the founding of Rissho Kosei-kai, she devoted herself to practicing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and becoming a witness to its transformative power. Driven by her deep compassion for others, she dedicated her life to teaching and nurturing members of the organization. Her boundless kindness earned her the admiration of many, who affectionately regarded her as a compassionate spiritual mother.

Rev. Naganuma passed away on September 10, 1957, at the age of sixty-seven.