In front of JR Kakegawa Station, there is a statue of a boy reading a book while carrying firewood on his back. It is Ninomiya Sontoku (called Kinjiro as a boy) in his childhood.
Ninomiya Sontoku (1787-1856) was an agrarian reformer who reconstructed over 600 exhausted farming villages with an approach based on his philosophy called “Hotoku.” The philosophy has four principles: sincerity, diligent labors, living within your means, and giving away the excess to others. It was a practical way of living and won many followers especially in Enshu or the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Sakichi Toyoda (1867-1930), who was the founder of Toyota group and born in Kosai, was also influenced by it. In Kakegawa, there is Dainippon Hotokusya, an organization that works to spread the philosophy of Hotoku. It is located near Kakegawa Castle, and its auditorium is a nationally important cultural property. Unfortunately, I couldn’t visit there because I didn’t have much time.
Ninomiya Sontoku seemed to be a realistic person. He said, “Economy without morality is a crime, and morality without economy is nonsense.” I agree with him. Both economy and morality are important.
Formerly, every elementary school in Japan had his statue like the one in front of JR Kakegawa Station as a symbol of diligence. In recent years, however, it has been removed from many schools partly because teachers and parents consider it dangerous to read a book (or watch a smartphone nowadays) while walking. But in Kakegawa, all the elementary schools have the statue, and the philosophy of Hotoku is familiar to the inhabitants.
Many Japanese people like watching historical dramas, but most of them are just samurai dramas. I wish I can see a drama of Ninomiya Sontoku some day. We may be able to learn a lot from his life and philosophy especially when we have weak economy.
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