Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, the late founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, was born on Nov. 15, 1906, in Suganuma, a small village in Niigata Prefecture, northern Japan. He was born into a farming family that was respected by the other villagers for their integrity and service to the community. His father and grandfather, who were both known for their kindness and generosity, were influential in shaping his character.

At the age of seven, the young boy entered elementary school, but even then he was expected to fulfill many responsibilities at home. Following the local custom of the time, he completed his formal education at the age of twelve and took his place among his family members as an adult.

In 1923, while still in his teens, he received permission from his father to go to Tokyo to find employment. His first job was with a rice shop; later he was employed by a charcoal dealer.

After serving three years in the Japanese navy, from 1926 through 1929, he returned to his last employment. A year later he married. After the birth of his first daughter in 1931 he went into business on his own, setting up a shop dealing in Japanese pickles. For several years after his return to Tokyo, he studied and practiced various spiritual disciplines and folk beliefs.

In August 1934 the Niwanos' second daughter, only nine months old, fell ill with Japanese sleeping sickness. At that time, the Niwanos could not afford hospital treatment for her. After exhausting every other possibility, the young father decided to accept the advice of a neighbor and consult Sukenobu Arai, a leader in a religious organization called Reiyukai. Niwano soon joined Reiyukai and began to follow its practice of offering reverence to the spirits of one's ancestors. Very quickly his daughter's physical condition improved. To Niwano, this proved the merit of Reiyukai, but what impressed him even more was the organization's emphasis on the Lotus Sutra, one of the most important scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism.

Revered by Buddhists as the core and culmination of the Buddha's teachings, the Lotus Sutra appealed to him as the perfect net in which to save all the world's people. It could help individuals as well as society as a whole, both physically and spiritually. He was deeply affected by what he learned. The more he read the text of the sutra, the more he was moved by its subtlety, profundity, and power. Two of its teachings suited his innermost feelings exactly: the way of compassion of the bodhisattva--helping others and serving all people in the world--and the ability of the lay believer both to save and be saved. The spirit of conviction he felt welling up inside him would not allow him to continue the halfway measure of spending most of his time at his job, devoting only his spare time to religious activities.

He then decided to change his occupation to one that would give him ample free time while it provided the opportunity to meet a great many people. He decided to open a neighborhood milk dealer's shop. In the milk business, home deliveries in the early mornings and evenings were the most pressing duties, leaving much of the rest of the day available for religious undertakings. One of his good customers was a woman who ran a small shop that sold ice in the summer and baked sweet potatoes in the winter. She was pale and sickly, frail from many years of pain and hardship caused by her former husband's infidelity and the death of their only child. She suffered from a variety of illnesses, and her doctors believed she did not have long to live.

Soon after she began receiving religious guidance from Niwano, however, her persistent ailments seemed to miraculously disappear. Once she felt certain of the efficacy of the Reiyukai teachings, she began enthusiastically taking part in its services. Even more surprising to the many who knew her was the vigorous way in which she went about conveying the teachings to others. On a single day she and Niwano, working together, brought nearly fifty people into the organization. This woman was the late Mrs. Myoko Naganuma, later to become known to many thousands of people as "Myoko Sensei."

Although Reiyukai's rapid growth at that time caused considerable excitement among its members, there were frequent disagreements among its top echelon of leaders. Although Niwano also felt excited, shadows of doubt were developing in the back of his mind. During a national meeting on January 7, 1938, its president made the statement that lectures on the Lotus Sutra were an out-of-date concept and that anyone who delivered them was in serious error. On the very next day, Niwano and Mrs. Naganuma agreed that because Reiyukai's position now was totally counter to their profound respect for the Lotus Sutra, they would have to resign as members. After further discussion they decided to form a new group, which originally consisted of about thirty members, people whom Arai, Niwano, and Mrs. Naganuma had taught in guidance sessions.

Ceremonies were held at Mrs. Naganuma's residence to solemnize the founding of the new organization, and a room in Niwano's home was made its headquarters. This was the birth of Rissho Kosei-kai, on March 5, 1938. Founder Niwano was then thirty-one years old and Cofounder Mrs. Naganuma, forty-eight.

Rissho in the organization's name means "establishing the teaching of the true Dharma (that is, the Lotus Sutra) in the world." The ko of Kosei signifies the mutual exchange of thoughts among people of faith--that is, the principle of spiritual unity among all human beings. Sei represents the perfection of one's personality, or the attainment of buddhahood. Kai simply means association or society.

Spiritual contacts and divine revelations were an important aspect of the practices and beliefs of Reiyukai in which Founder Niwano and Cofounder Naganuma had been trained by Arai. Several revelations directed Founder Niwano to devote himself fully to the Lotus Sutra. One of the earliest of these had to do with his reading: "You have the duty to spread the teachings of the Lotus Sutra throughout the world. Abandon all other reading and dedicate yourself to it alone." In abiding by this revelation, the founder developed an understanding for the most subtle aspects of the text.

By 1941, membership in Rissho Kosei-kai had reached one thousand, and the construction of a separate headquarters building became an absolute necessity. It was completed in May 1942. In the meantime, Founder Niwano and Cofounder Naganuma gave up their businesses to devote themselves full-time to their religious activities. Not long after the new headquarters was completed, however, it was already proving to be too small to hold all the people who came to receive guidance or attend religious services. Many members had to sit out-of-doors on grass mats. The meetings of the groups that gathered for counseling guidance came to be known as hoza sessions. These have remained among Rissho Kosei-kai's basic practices since its inception, although at the beginning the format was not fixed and the sessions could be held anywhere, at any time.

After Rev. Naganuma received a renewed lease on life as a result of her religious faith, she resolved to devote all her remaining years to disseminating the Lotus Sutra. Despite her advancing years, she worked tirelessly at this and providing guidance to Rissho Kosei-kai members. Her labors ultimately took a severe toll on her health. She gradually lost her appetite, yet as her illness progressed her mood seemed to brighten. She passed away peacefully on the evening of Sept. 10, 1957, at the age of sixty-seven. The funeral services were held on the following Sept. 14 and 15. As many as 250,000 members from all parts of Japan came to pay their final respects to her.