With the onset of World War II, Makiguchi and Toda met with harassment and persecution. Both were arrested and jailed by the government in 1943 on charges of blasphemy against the deified emperor (lèse-majesté) and violating the 1925 Peace Preservation Law. At first intended to suppress "thought crimes" of left-leaning groups, the law was amended in 1941 to include religious organizations. Toda and Makiguchi were among the approximate 80,000 people arrested for violating this law between 1925 and 1945. A total of 21 Soka Kyoiku Gakkai leaders were arrested and this effectively shuttered the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai organization. Makiguchi died in prison in 1944, and Toda was released just weeks before Japan's surrender in 1945.