Without the Salvation of Women, No Living Faith in the Lotus Sutra : Koizumi Kikue’s Feminist Nichirenism in Wartime Japan

Abstract

This article tells the story of Koizumi Kikue (1904–1992), an ordinary woman from the Tohoku region who became a leading figure in the East Asia League Movement (Tōa Renmei Undō), a Pan-Asianist and Nichirenist movement in wartime Japan. Koizumi developed into an independent Nichirenist thinker, writer, and activist whose faith inspired her advocacy for women’s liberation. A product of her time, she was also a radical nationalist and militarist, although these aspects were encapsulated in a larger Buddhist utopianism. The article argues that an analysis of Koizumi’s life and thought demonstrates that in contrast to its image as a closed and exclusivist movement, Nichirenism also proved open to, and functioned as a catalyst for, new ideas. Koizumi’s story shows the importance of carefully examining the lives and lived experience of practioners and less prominent figures in modern Buddhism.Early Access Publishing date: 2025/07/31journal articl