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raatkeranitodays menu : Ninomiya [二宮]
i remember my sister mentioned about the meaning of the family name Ninomiya of Ninomiya Kazunari of 嵐. so while searching for for its roots, i came accross Ninomiya Sontoku (二宮 尊徳), born Ninomiya Kinjirō (二宮 金次郎, 1787-1856), was a prominent 19th century Japanese agricultural leader, philosopher, moralist and economist.
Ninomiya Sontoku was born to a poor peasant family with a name of Kinjiro in Kayama (栢山) Ashigarakami-gun Sagami province. His father died when he was 14 and his mother died two years later. He was then placed in his uncle's household. While working in his uncle's land, Sontoku studied on his own. He later obtained abandoned land on his own and transformed it into agricultural land, eventually restoring his household on his own at the age of 20 and achieved considerable wealth as a landlord while in his 20s. He was then recruited to run his small feudal district which was facing considerable financial difficulty. He achieved this by reviving local economy, particularly through agricultural development. The daimoys hearing of his achievement, eventually recruited Sontoku to run Odawara Domain then Shimotsuke Province. He was eventually entrusted with one of Shogunate's estate, which was great honour for someone of his low origin. His philosophy and methodology became a standard format in feudal land, developmental and economic management. The name "Sontoku" was given to him for his accomplishments. After his death, the emperor awarded him with Jyu Yoni, Lower Fourth Honour under the ritsuryō rank system.
...
Ninomiya Sontoku emphasized the importance of compound interest which was not well understood among samurai and peasants.[citation needed] He calculated the maturity of each interest rate for 100 years to show its significance by using the Japanese abacus or soroban.[1] In terms of agriculture, agricultural village life he viewed as communal, where surpluses from one year were invested to develop further land or saved for worse years, and shared by members of the community. He was aware that developed land had lower tax base than established agricultural land and he was adepte at financial management which he applied to his estate. He also encouraged immigrants from other estate and rewarded them if they successfully establish agricultural household. He also started his own financial institutions called gojyoukou, (五常講 ごじょうこう), which appear to be a forerunner of credit union. Each member of the village union could borrow fund interest free for 100 days, while the entire membership shared the cost in case of default. Combination of land development, immigration and communal finance all managed under diligent utilisation of abacus was a success and became the standard methodology of economic development in feudal Japan.
(from Wikipedia)
It is interesting how Ninomiya Kazunari is always depicted as a cheapskate and saving his money. Although it is in no way similar to the praised hero in anyway, I can't help but thinking, "Maybe Nino realized that the life of stardom is only short-lived. That's why he's saving it up to work on his own business later."
just my thought.
i remember my sister mentioned about the meaning of the family name Ninomiya of Ninomiya Kazunari of 嵐. so while searching for for its roots, i came accross Ninomiya Sontoku (二宮 尊徳), born Ninomiya Kinjirō (二宮 金次郎, 1787-1856), was a prominent 19th century Japanese agricultural leader, philosopher, moralist and economist.
Ninomiya Sontoku was born to a poor peasant family with a name of Kinjiro in Kayama (栢山) Ashigarakami-gun Sagami province. His father died when he was 14 and his mother died two years later. He was then placed in his uncle's household. While working in his uncle's land, Sontoku studied on his own. He later obtained abandoned land on his own and transformed it into agricultural land, eventually restoring his household on his own at the age of 20 and achieved considerable wealth as a landlord while in his 20s. He was then recruited to run his small feudal district which was facing considerable financial difficulty. He achieved this by reviving local economy, particularly through agricultural development. The daimoys hearing of his achievement, eventually recruited Sontoku to run Odawara Domain then Shimotsuke Province. He was eventually entrusted with one of Shogunate's estate, which was great honour for someone of his low origin. His philosophy and methodology became a standard format in feudal land, developmental and economic management. The name "Sontoku" was given to him for his accomplishments. After his death, the emperor awarded him with Jyu Yoni, Lower Fourth Honour under the ritsuryō rank system.
...
Ninomiya Sontoku emphasized the importance of compound interest which was not well understood among samurai and peasants.[citation needed] He calculated the maturity of each interest rate for 100 years to show its significance by using the Japanese abacus or soroban.[1] In terms of agriculture, agricultural village life he viewed as communal, where surpluses from one year were invested to develop further land or saved for worse years, and shared by members of the community. He was aware that developed land had lower tax base than established agricultural land and he was adepte at financial management which he applied to his estate. He also encouraged immigrants from other estate and rewarded them if they successfully establish agricultural household. He also started his own financial institutions called gojyoukou, (五常講 ごじょうこう), which appear to be a forerunner of credit union. Each member of the village union could borrow fund interest free for 100 days, while the entire membership shared the cost in case of default. Combination of land development, immigration and communal finance all managed under diligent utilisation of abacus was a success and became the standard methodology of economic development in feudal Japan.
(from Wikipedia)
It is interesting how Ninomiya Kazunari is always depicted as a cheapskate and saving his money. Although it is in no way similar to the praised hero in anyway, I can't help but thinking, "Maybe Nino realized that the life of stardom is only short-lived. That's why he's saving it up to work on his own business later."
just my thought.
