July 3, 1957Detained on False Charges
On July 3, 1957, Ikeda was arrested on unfounded charges of violating the election law and spent two weeks in jail. Two years earlier, Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda had decided to begin fielding Soka Gakkai-backed candidates in the local and later national elections, running on anti-corruption platforms. Ikeda's arrest, as a leading organizer of the election campaign in Osaka, came at a time when the Soka Gakkai candidates were achieving surprising success at both the national and local levels. Alarmed by the growing influence of this grassroots movement, the conservative political establishment launched a series of attacks on the Soka Gakkai, culminating in Ikeda's arrest. After a lengthy court case that lasted until 1962, Ikeda was completely exonerated of all charges.
[See also "Political Involvement and Persecution" in PROFILE]