Photo/Illutration The old style, thatched roof family house of Ninomiya Sontoku is an exhibit on the grounds of Sontoku Memorial Hall in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture. Information about Sontoku is presented in displays of his personal effects, reference materials and dioramas. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

That’s him? I couldn’t help saying it out loud when I saw the picture of a gruff, almost non-Japanese-looking, approximately 180-centimeter-tall, middle-aged man who needed a shave.

It was not easy shaking off the classic image of that young boy carrying a bundle of firewood on his back as he read a book on his way to and from—was it a cram school? Of course not.

The Sontoku Memorial Hall, adjacent to the birthplace of Ninomiya Sontoku (1787-1856) in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, filled in my gaps about the famous self-educated boy whose figure stands on the grounds of many old elementary schools.

I learned that Sontoku’s father was a trusting, too much of a nice guy who ended up penniless, in debt, and died young. The boy’s mother, too, passed away shortly after, and Sontoku, or Kinjiro as he’s more commonly known, was sent to live with an uncle.

This uncle, let's say, was not very understanding when Kinjiro literally burned the midnight oil hitting the books and forbade him from doing so. We know from history that successful people who make a name for themselves see opportunity in adversity.

Kinjiro planted rapeseed—I don’t like that sound, so let’s call it “canola” here as they’re close enough—on some no man’s land, made his own oil and sold the excess.

He went on to become a notable figure in agricultural management, financial creativity and economic theory.

On the museum’s wall is a signboard with four of the most famous teachings of Ninomiya Sontoku, as he was later called. His ideas emphasize conduct that aligns with a deep appreciation for one’s family, ancestors, the broader community and the environment.

They are sincerity (至誠: shisei), industriousness (勤労: kinro), budgeting and thrift (分度: bundo), and giving back and paying forward (推譲: suijo).

Like the folks in the Edo Period (1603-1867), I had only vaguely grasped the notion of compound interest, and by the time the practical implications hit home in my 40s, it was a bit late. Sontoku taught such principles and set up credit unions that aided the country’s economic development.

Ninomiya statues have been removed from many modern elementary schools for a variety of reasons: children should focus on school and not labor; they don’t match the design of the new school building; his image is thought to be a vestige of wartime education; they have started to erode; "nagara" behavior (reading or looking at mobile devices while walking) is dangerous, and more.

I say make the statues mandatory.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the April 28 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Things, Places and Events," which depicts various parts of the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Aoyama Gakuin University.

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