The Takahashi family had taken up a position of Shouya or the village chief for generations. At the age of 17 he started to study under Seisou Tsunetou, one of the greatest educators in this district, and at the age of 35 he was named Ou-jouya or the country chief. After the Meiji Restoration, he was named Gunchou (or the country chief) and was elected the first member of the prefectural assembly. The first middle school in this district was established by him, and the Chizuka-sha and the Chikujou-sha, both of them were the predecessors of the bank, were also established with his effort. In those days the lower reaches of the Sai River and the Iwatake River, which is in the eastern part of this district, was wealthy, but farm products were sometimes damaged by dry weather. Therefore he decided to build an irrigation pond. In 1878, he raised some volunteers and made a series of speeches to build ponds, but people around here were opposed to his plan because they thought it was too difficult for them to come true. In 1885, he started to build the ponds which would water about 500 acres of rice fields, about one third of the district. Overcoming financial difficulties by offering his own expense he completed the Hei-ike or the third pond the next year. The Otsu-ike or the second pond was completed in 1890. In this time he disposed his whole fortune and borrowed money to complete. The last pond, which was named the Kou-ike or the first pond, was very huge- about 13 meters high, 15 meters deep, 20 meters wide (the upper part) and 60 meters wide (the lower part). He disposed the rest of his fortune-his house and lot and rice fields and so on. But just before the completion he died suddenly. In 1900, the village mayors completed the pond to founder his last request before he died. These three ponds, which are generally called Yakata-ike, can water 616 acres. In 1927 to inform his great work to the future generation people concerned built the huge monument by the pond. We call him the Savior of farmers.
Later he entered the faculty of literature of the Tokyo University and studied deeply philosophy and ethics. In 1905 the government dispatched him as a secretary of Baron Suematsu to England during the Russo-Japanese War. He stayed in England for two years and learned liberalism and democracy. Through three years' studying abroad from 1907 he learnt philosophy in Europe and America. After returning to Japan principal Kanou recommended him as a professor of higher normal school. For ten years from 1929 he visited many universities of German for exchanging cultures. And he often took part in the representative of international meetings. After the second World War he returned to his hometown he was a principal of Higashi-Chikushi Junior College from the foundation. In 1952 he went up to Tokyo to organize corporation of social morality. He got the Second Order of Merit in 1934. He wrote many books , "instructor morals", "junior high morals", "women's morals", and etc. All of them were kept at the Tomoeda Material museum.
Born in Nakahata, Iwaya village. The Watanabe
family had been a vassal of the Utsunomiya
family that had been the lord of the Kii
castle.
Founder of private school in True Essence of Pure Land. Joukei was not only a fame businessman but a great volunteer in the Edo and Meiji period. He spent his fortune to save people who were less fortunate and to educate people in this area. We are proud of him. He was born in Nakatsu, the next door city of Buzen, and moved to Unoshima, Buzen. With his father-in-law he kept a grain business and a distillery. By using his own ships he established direct relations to merchants in Shikoku and Osaka area and contributed the Kokura clan. When he was 23, after death of father-in-law, he was named for Ou-jouya, country chief in the Edo period, and Okuramoto, a manager of an annual tribute. For 5 years since 1883 he privately funded the hospital and saved many impoverished people who couldn't receive treatment because poverty. When Buzen area was ravaged by famine in 1884, he had distributed boiled to starving people for two years. In 1879(in the Meiji period) he established the private college, Joukei-Kyoko, by himself, in which many famous priests and Sinologists taught students Buddhism and Chinese classics. He believed in Buddhism, especially Joudo-Shinshu, True Essence of Pure Land, and his religious mind made him establish this college. It is said that over 1500 students (according to epitaph says 3000 students) learned there. In 1887 he died suddenly while staying in Osaka on business In 1917 to admire him people concerned built his statue with string of beads in its left hand. It stands a view of Port of Unoshima he went for toward to build. (It was delivered to the war to make iron arms but later a bust was rebuilt.) In 1897 his left family donated the land, around 7.3 acres, to make Unoshima Station.
He was a religious founder and believed in
a special Buddhist invocation from the end
of the Edo era to the Meiji era.
Born in Shoe. He had four brothers and a
sister. |