Talk:Sōka University

IP address 4.46.1.85 periodically deletes information across wikipedia about topics related to Soka Gakkai. Controversy at Soka University is well documented, including serious questions about it being controlled by a sect that many call a cult. I think it is fitting to include this information and links to relevant press reports. --Goettel 06:38, May 31, 2004 (UTC)

Personally as a member of the Soka Gokkai I find some of the debate hurtful however I feel it is necessary and shouldn't be censored. My personal opinion is that the Soka Gokkai as an organization believes that religions and society are not separate entities. I would like to note that Soka University isn't a Buddhist only school and that it is unfortunate that the controversy exists. If anything I feel that this controversy is often supported by the fact that many people are anti-SGI often vehemently so. The links for instance don't include links to the SUA webpage or any articles defending the organization. To say that anything is a cult is simply a way of trying to subvert a religious practice. Yes the organization own newspapers, magazines, and publishes books, yes we donate and support schools that we feel coincide with our values and beliefs. We do indeed try to get people to learn about the organization and it's goals, and we try to convert people into Buddhists. As far as the cult argument goes I don't believe there is much weight to it, I do support the discussion. I don't think it is a valid argument that my religion is a cult, and I would question the background and motives of people that make arguments that we are a cult. A lot of bad blood exists between our organization and the former priesthood and it unfortunate that we are at present still in a war or words.

The above was written by Prof_of_asskickology October 13th, 11:38 PM PST

Proposal to Disambig
Even the Soka Universities in the US and Japan are related to the Soka Gakkai, there's no reason that the two have to be crowded into an article. I propose this article to be Disambig'd to Soka University (USA) and Soka University (Japan). Samuel Curtis 17:51, 29 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I just read this (after the fact) and I agree because the two are not technically the same university system (it's like the various Loyola universities in the US, all related to the Catholic church but not to each other) --I went ahead and did the disambiguation, however there was an easy out: The USA campus is actually called Soka University of America. The Japanese campus is officially Soka University, and I think we can get away with a simple disambig line at the top of this page.  What do you think? --Bobak 19:30, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Proposed merge with Soka Women's College
Soka Women's College is a two-year program (短期大学) affiliated with Sōka University (Japan). The article is currently a two-sentence stub. I propose it be merged here until there is enough content to warrant separate articles. (Editors interested in this discussion may wish to see a list of similar proposed merges at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Universities.) Cnilep (talk) 03:28, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Support. The current poorly-sourced details at Soka Women's College can easily be appended as a couple of lines to the related Sōka University (Japan) article until some future date when sufficient reliably-sourced information can be provided to justify a separate self-standing article. --DAJF (talk) 11:55, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Hearing no objections after two months, I have merged the page. Cnilep (talk) 01:51, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

Requested move 26 August 2017

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: not moved. Doesn't seem to be any support for the proposed move. Number  5  7  16:11, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Sōka University → Soka University – the title with a diacritic does not "predominate in English language reliable sources" per WP:TITLE, and is not advertised as the translation in all publications by the institution itself. Malayy (talk) 13:02, 26 August 2017 (UTC)
 * This is a contested technical request (permalink). Anthony Appleyard (talk) 15:49, 26 August 2017 (UTC)


 * What do the WP Japan naming conventions say? Sōka University is used in third party book sources, (a) since short-o "Soka" (そか soka 粗菓 "cheap candy") means something different to Souka/ Sōka "value-adding", and (b) Sōka Gakkai, which is always written with long ou/ō. In ictu oculi (talk) 13:44, 26 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Sōka Gakkai is always written with long ou/ō? Malayy (talk) 15:18, 26 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Queried move request Anthony Appleyard (talk) 15:49, 26 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I think this is a technical request. I know JA Wikipedia's rules but I'm not as familiar with the rules here in this case so I did my research. Per WP:JATITLE, honor the current anglicization used officially by that party. The official website of this institution uses "Soka University" without macron. Book sources also favour "Soka University" over "Sōka University". Malayy (talk) 08:57, 27 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes Sōka Gakkai is always written with long ou/ō. Re WP:JATITLE generally that means spelling, not fonts. In ictu oculi (talk) 13:50, 27 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I don't see Soka Gakkai being predominantly written with a macron at all, this being the religious group the school takes its name from. And I'm not sure what you meant by the second part. Malayy (talk) 03:28, 28 August 2017 (UTC)


 * Lack of macron :: how often is it by choice, and how often because people's typewriters and word-processor programs can't easily make vowels with macrons? Anthony Appleyard (talk) 10:59, 27 August 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

About the rankings
Hello, this page used to present Soka University as one of the top universities in Japan, according to a 2014 rankings. It's a misunderstanding : this ranking does not designate the best universities in Japan, but establishes a list of japanese universities that are "leading the internationalization of Japan’s education by launching new programs to encourage and deepen interactions and partnerships with the world’s top universities". That is why I corrected this point. If you have further informations about rankings in Japan, please share it here ! --Raoul mishima (talk) 16:39, 15 January 2024 (UTC)