Soka University opened to undergraduate students in 1971, with its graduate school opening in 1975. Since the school's founding, more than 50,000 students have graduated from Soka University. Soka University of America is a related school founded in 2001, located in Aliso Viejo, California, which offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees.
Educational philosophy
Soka University's educational philosophy was established by Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, the first president of the Soka Gakkai, who had worked as the principal of an elementary school in Japan. Makiguchi published the book "The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy" based on his belief that the purpose of education is the students' happiness, and emphasized humanistic education. This educational philosophy was shared by his successor, Jōsei Toda, who had served as an elementary school teacher. Toda's successor, Daisaku Ikeda, describes his goal as carrying out the dreams of Makiguchi and Toda. "Soka" is a Japanese term meaning "value creation". In 1971, when Daisaku Ikeda founded Soka University, the school established the following founding principles:
As of 2015, Soka University had awarded 365 honorary doctorates and honorary professorships, primarily to international figures in academia and culture. In April 1993, Mikhail Gorbachev traveled to Tokyo together with his wife Raisa to receive an honorary doctorate from Soka University in recognition of his efforts for world peace. A cherry tree was planted at the university in their honor during their visit. Rosa Parks visited Soka University in 1994 to deliver a lecture, and was bestowed an honorary doctorate at that time for her contributions to civil rights. When Nelson Mandela visited Soka University in 1995, he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his lifelong work to promote human rights. In 1996, the university awarded an honorary doctorate to Fidel Castro in recognition of his efforts to establish exemplary health care and education systems for his nation's people. In 2008, an honorary doctorate was awarded to a professor at Moscow State University, Mihail Sokolov, a medical robotics scientist.
Soka University shares its campus in Hachiōji, Tokyo, with Sōka Women's College, an affiliated private junior college that was founded on April 2, 1985.
