1. Seattle Incident Libel Case Withdrawn

By Jeff Farr
Managing Editor

After nine years of litigation, Nichiren Shoshu on Jan. 31 withdrew its libel case against the Soka Gakkai over the Seattle Incident. Tokyo High Court chief judge Kazuo Masui had strongly recommended that Nichiren Shoshu withdraw the case, and the Soka Gakkai, based on advice from the judge, decided to accept the priesthood’s withdrawal.

In 1993, Nichiren Shoshu sued the Soka Gakkai over coverage in Soka Gakkai publications of High Priest Nikken Abe’s altercation with prostitutes in Seattle in 1963. In March 2000, based on the testimonies of the high priest and Mrs. Hiroe Clow, an SGI-USA member who was called by Seattle police to the incident site, the Tokyo District Court ruled the incident had occurred as reported. Nichiren Shoshu then appealed the decision to the High Court, eventually leading to the Jan. 31 withdrawal.

The withdrawal in no way nullifies the March 2000 District Court decision, as Nichiren Shoshu has been claiming since Jan. 31. The testimonies of the high priest and Mrs. Clow, and the subsequent ruling stand as historical fact.

Commenting on the end of the Seattle Incident court proceedings, SGI Deputy President Einosuke Akiya said: “From here on, we can be free to expand our dialogue for the sake of kosen-rufu on a loftier, broader dimension. At the same time, the high priest’s actions to destroy Buddhism have been continuing unabated until this day. Therefore we must not slacken in the least in our just struggle….”

(Originally published, World Tribune, Feb. 22, 2002)