Ryoichiro Okada

Japanese: 岡田良一郎 - おかだ・りょういちろう

Year of death: 1915.1.1
Year of birth: Tenpo 10.10.21 (1839.11.26)
A Hotoku activist and politician in the late Edo and Meiji periods. He was the eldest son of Okada Saheiji, a wealthy farmer from Kurama Village, Sano County, Totomi Province (Kakegawa City). His given name was Kiyoyuki, his pen name was Renfu, and his pen name was Tanzan. In 1854 (Ansei 1), at the age of 14, he became a disciple of Ninomiya Sontoku, and studied under Sontoku and his son Sonyuki in Nikko for 5 years. After returning to his village, he became involved in the Hotoku movement, and in 1875 (Meiji 8), he succeeded his father as president of the Totomi Province Hotoku Society (which was renamed Dai Nippon Hotoku Society in 1871), a position he held for 36 years until his resignation in 1872, where he led the Hotoku movement. In politics, after serving Hamamatsu Prefecture from 1873 to 1875, he promoted a movement to cancel the rice exchange and revise land prices as chairman of the Hamamatsu Prefectural Assembly and the Enshu Provincial Assembly, representing the people of Enshu who were dissatisfied with the results of the land tax reform. After serving as chairman of the Shizuoka Prefectural Citizens' Council, mayor of Sano and Joto counties, and a member of the Shizuoka Prefectural Assembly, he became a member of the House of Representatives in 1948 and joined the Taiseikai, but retired from political activity in 1955. In business, he was involved in industrial and financial institutions that were established through his own recommendations and guidance. In 1956, he served as general manager of the Asset Money Lending Office, handled the establishment of the Futamata Spinning Company, president of Kakegawa Bank, and director of the Asset Bank, and in 1960, he became chairman of the Kakegawa Credit Union, Japan's first credit union. He also established the Kihoku Gakusha and Nogakusha, and worked to spread education and agricultural knowledge. <Works> "Awayamaronshu", 4 volumes<References> Unno Fukuju, "Okada Ryoichiro Chronology", Unno Fukuju and Kato Takashi (eds.), "Industrial Development and the Hotoku Movement"

(Umino Fukuju)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正4.1.1(1915)
生年：天保10.10.21(1839.11.26)
幕末明治期の報徳運動家,政治家。遠江国佐野郡倉真村(掛川市)の豪農岡田佐平治の長男。名は清行,字は廉夫,号淡山。安政1(1854)年14歳で二宮尊徳に入門,5年まで日光で尊徳とその子尊行に師事する。帰村後報徳運動に従事,明治8(1875)年,父の跡を継いで遠江国報徳社(44年に大日本報徳社と改称)社長となり,45年に辞任するまで36年間その地位にあって報徳運動を指導した。政治面では明治6～8年浜松県出仕ののち,浜松県民会・遠州州会議長として地租改正の結果を不満とする遠州人民を代表して交換米取り消し,地価修正運動を推進する。静岡県民会議長,佐野・城東郡長,静岡県会議員を経て,23年衆議院議員となり大成会に属したが,30年政治活動から引退。実業面では自身の建議や指導によって設立された産業・金融機関に関与。11年の資産金貸付所総括,二俣紡績会社設立事務取扱,掛川銀行頭取,資産銀行取締役を歴任,25年には日本で最初の信用組合である掛川信用組合理事長に就任した。また,冀北学舎,農学社を設立し,教育,農業知識普及にも努めた。<著作>『淡山論集』全4巻<参考文献>海野福寿『岡田良一郎年譜』,海野福寿・加藤隆編『殖産興業と報徳運動』

(海野福寿)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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