Notice how the SGI keeps doing that "3" thing with Ikeda - do you understand the implication?

In Japanese culture, the third in a series of three is considered the most important - if anyone has more information on this, feel free to post clarifications. For example, there's Nichiren Daishonin, Nikko Shonin, and then Nichimoku Shonin - they were in one of the silent prayers back in the day, and they had special descriptives to go along with them:

• Nichiren Daishonin: the True Buddha of honnin-myo (blah blah blah)

• Nikko Shonin - or, rather, Byakuren Ajari Nikko Shonin, the great leader of the propagation of true Buddhism (blah blah blah)

• Nichimoku Shonin, or Niidakyo Ajari Nichimoku Shonin, the high priest of Kosen-rufu, who dedicated his life to the spread of true Buddhism.

That last one's kind of a joke - Nichimoku was only high priest for, like, 9 months, and he died en route to a remonstration with the government. He never made it. He never did anything except to DIE. So this is an example of how that "third of three" tradition sometimes turns out quite embarrassingly.

Look at the Soka Gakkai's Three Presidents - how often do you come across anything actually written by Makiguchi or Toda? If you do, it's likely just a coupla sentences, or is being interpreted by Ikeda. There exist LP records and videos of Toda's speeches - in Japanese, of course - these COULD be transcribed for everyone's edification; Makiguchi wrote books, which could be provided and studied; instead, all we get is Ikeda, Ikeda, and MOAR Ikeda, 24/7. Every publication is filled with Ikeda. JUST Ikeda. Here are a few pictures of The Three Presidents:

Ikeda dreamily gazing into the future O_O Notice only IKEDA gets the colorized treatment.

Same thing here

And here

The first two Soka Gakkai presidents are nothing more than fusty old antiques, crusty tin-type ancient history. So don't you pay them no nevermind!

I love this one, the way Ikeda's going "HERK! up at the top!! :D

But the DERPing aside, notice also that Ikeda, along with having a completely different expression, is drawn slightly larger than the other two. People's heads tend to be pretty much the same size, unless we're talking a medical condition like gigantism. Even there, though, the main difference is in the legs - and Ikeda's famously shorter than average! But Ikeda' IS much fatter than the other two - that could account for it O_O

Well, look at the "Gandhi, King, Ikeda" travesty. Notice who's in 3rd place. Third place, in Japanese culture, is the only one worth remembering, you see. Here's another example - the three Buddhas O_O See wut they're doin thar?? IKEDA now gets to assume the mantle - HE inherits the credit they EARNED, just by putting himself in third place!

So, yeah. You might have thought that "Gandhi, King, Ikeda" couldn't get any worse... O_O