And speaking of buying and selling...for those who are keeping track, President Ikeda has received his 288th academic honor.
From Yahoo's Soka Gakkai Unofficial Board:
--- In
SokaGakkaiUnofficial@yahoogroups.com, "djgropp" <djgropp@...> wrote:
>
> Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International lay Buddhist
organization, was awarded the title of honorary professor from Tsinghua
University*, China, at a ceremony held in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on May 13.
Tsinghua University President Gu Binglin headed a delegation that included
Deputy Secretary-General Wang Jinzhan and other university officials which
presented the academic honor to Mr. Ikeda. Also present at the ceremony were
Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua and Minister-Counselor Sun Jianming.
>
> In his speech, President Gu cited the reasons for his university's decision to
confer the academic title to Mr. Ikeda: "Based on his exceptional
far-sightedness, Mr Ikeda made a public proposal for the normalization of
diplomatic relations between China and Japan back in 1968…thereby setting a
clear direction for the development of friendly bilateral ties between our two
countries." He added, "In dedicating his entire life to advocating and taking
action to realize the ideal of lasting global peace and the happiness of
humankind, Mr. Ikeda has won widespread recognition as well as respect and
appreciation from peace-loving people in China and around the world."
>
> This honorary professorship brings to 288 the total number of academic honors
awarded to Mr. Ikeda by institutions in 51 countries and territories for his
contributions to building peace, cultural exchange and the promotion of
dialogue.