Soka Gakkai’s collaborative spirit expresses itself most clearly through Soka Gakkai International (SGI), which engages a wide spectrum of religious, educational, and secular partners around shared concerns such as peace, human rights, and environmental responsibility. Rather than seeking doctrinal unity, it emphasizes what might be called a humanistic meeting of hearts and minds, joining interfaith councils, conferences, and forums with Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and other Buddhist communities. These encounters often take the form of dialogues, joint statements, and prayer or reflection gatherings, particularly in settings connected with the United Nations and global interfaith assemblies. The underlying orientation is to preserve a distinct Nichiren Buddhist identity while finding ethical common ground with others.

In the educational sphere, collaboration unfolds through the Soka education system, including Soka University in Japan and Soka University of America, as well as affiliated schools. These institutions maintain academic exchanges, joint research projects, and symposia with universities and research centers around the world, especially on themes such as peace studies, global citizenship, and value-creating education. Peace research institutes and think tanks associated with this network, such as those devoted to global peace and policy research, bring together scholars and practitioners from diverse backgrounds for roundtables, publications, and conferences. In this way, educational partnerships become a laboratory for exploring how inner transformation can be linked with broader social change.

Collaboration with secular and international organizations is equally significant. SGI holds recognized status within the United Nations system and participates in UN conferences and programs related to sustainable development, nuclear disarmament, and human rights. Through alliances with other NGOs and campaigns for disarmament and social justice, it co-organizes exhibitions, public forums, and educational initiatives that address nuclear abolition, human rights education, and environmental sustainability. Partnerships with human rights organizations, environmental groups, and peace networks reflect a consistent effort to translate Buddhist-inspired values into concrete contributions to global civil society.

At the cultural and community level, Soka Gakkai members often work with local schools, community centers, cultural institutions, and municipal bodies to sponsor festivals, exhibitions, and educational events. These collaborations promote arts, intercultural understanding, and nonviolence, while also extending to community-based efforts such as disaster relief and social welfare activities. The focus in such settings is not proselytization but shared action for the well-being of society. Across these various forms of engagement, Soka Gakkai’s partnerships can be seen as an ongoing experiment in how personal transformation and collective responsibility might mutually reinforce one another.