Even now spirit of mutual assistance The thought of Sontoku Ninomiya was handed over to “Hotokusha (organization of mutual reward for virtues).”  Hotoku is derived from the “I toku ho toku (reward for virtues by virtues) “, one of teaching in ” Book of Analects”. The Meiji government gave Sontoku the honorable medal “Jyu-yon-i (the fourth-place medal).” However, if there were no activity of Hotokusha after his death, he might have been forgotten.  It was his disciples who made efforts to spread the Hotokusha.  Among them, the achievement of Shoshichi Agui (1789-1863) was shining. Shoshichi was born in Minoge village of Sagaminokuni (Sagami country) (Minoge, Hadano city, Kanagawa prefecture).  Although … Continue reading →

Diligence savings, “the road to rescue the village” The information on activities of Shoshichi Agui (1789 ～ 1863) that, Hotokusha was established in Shimoishida  (Shimoishida, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka prefecture) and Shoshichi rescued the poor by interest-free loan, spread throughout the Enshu whole area.  Saheiji Okada (1812 ～ 1873)  heard the information. Later, Saheiji established “Totominokuni (Tōtōmi Province) Hotokusha” and became president of Dainippon Hotokusha. However, at this point, Saheiji did not know Sontoku and Hotoku thought. Saheiji invited Shoshichi to his home and　received his lecture on Hotoku thought and practice of Shiho program for 3 days in the around-the-clock. Saheiji was convinced that “It’s just the way to save … Continue reading →

Enlightenment of region by “bundo” and “suijo” Every year, board of education of Kakegawa city of Shizuoka Prefecture, where headquarters of Dainippon Hotokusha is located, distributes supplementary readers “Naruhodo, Nattoku, Kinjiro-san (I see, I’m convinced, Mr. Kinjiro)” to 4 grade students of the elementary school. This book explains Sontoku’s philosophy ” kinben (hard work)”, ” shisei (sincerity)”, “bundo (computational general equilibrium)”, “suijo (concession)” in line with the everyday lives of children. For example, the book represents “bundo (computational general equilibrium) ” as ” to eliminate the waste (pocket money, eco-movement),” and “suijo (concession)” as “to lend force or help the people (volunteer activities, such as fund-raising activities).” The statues of … Continue reading →

Management by spirit of mutual aid and Hotoku thought There is a history of the development in Hokkaido prefecture. Sontoku Ninomiya( 1787 ～ 1856 ), who had worked on wasteland reclamation in the Kanto and Tohoku, was ordered to help the development there. Hakodate magistrate asked Sontoku for development of Ezo region (current Hokkaido) in 1855 (Ansei 2). At that time Sontoku was not health. He wrote the letter of refuse with reason that “I can not assume the responsibility, and my son (Sonko)is also half a man.” Immediately Hakodate magistrate sent letter to order “to write the name of candidate able to develop in new place.” He answered, “there … Continue reading →

Three-legged race to farmers relief The Edo period ended, isolationism was solved. Meiji government promoted encouragement of agriculture, which was the main industry of the time, while encouraging the modernization such as “wealth and military strength” and “encouragement of new industry.” In 1871 (Meiji 4), Meiji government sent a delegation to learn the politics and institutions of Western advanced countries. Tomomi Iwakura served as plenipotentiary ambassador, and Takayoshi Kido, Toshimichi Okubo, Hirofumi Ito became deputy delegates. Other young men　who were expected in the future ridded on this ship as exchange students. At that time, Tosuke Hirata, 23 years old, ridded as one of them. Hirata had initially wanted the Russian … Continue reading →