Although not functionally multilingual or a translator himself, Daisaku Ikeda has been deeply involved in translation processes, both as a reader and as someone who has produced texts for translation into various languages. This article examines two sources of influence shaping Ikeda's attitude toward translation culture: the flourishing culture of translation that prevailed in the Japan of his childhood and youth and the example of the 5th century C.E. Buddhist translations of Kumarajiva. These two sources are seen as fostering an attitude toward translation as a vehicle for cross-cultural communication rooted in a faith in a universal humanity. (Contains 1 footnote.)