I could learn nothing from the priest concerning several helpful organisations which I had heard that the villagers owed to his influence and exertions. But the manager of the village agricultural association told me that for a quarter of a century Otera San (Mr. Temple) had superintended the education of the young people, that under his guidance the village had a seven years' old co-operative credit and selling society, 294 families belonged to a poultry society, 320 men and women gathered to study the doctrines of Ninomiya (whom we in the West know from a little book by a late Japanese Ambassador in London, called _For His People_), and the young men's association performed its discipline at half-past five in the morning in the winter and at four o'clock in the summer. [Illustration: "TO ROUSE THE VILLAGE YOU MUST FIRST ROUSE THE PRIEST" (Autograph of Otera San)] FOOTNOTES: [9] Exchange in 1916; in 1921 the yen is worth 2s. 8d. [10] The chapters in this section are based on notes of several visits paid to Aichi, which is in the middle of Japan, and agriculturally and socially one of the most interesting of the prefectures. It is three prefectures distant from Tokyo. [11] Throughout this book an attempt has been made to preserve in translation something of the character of the Japanese phraseology. [12] _Cryptomeria japonica_, or in Japanese, _sugi_, allied to the sequoia, yew and cypress. [13] _Miso_, bean paste. CHAPTER II "GOOD PEOPLE ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PRECAUTIOUS" Je ne propose rien, je n'impose rien, j'expose.--_De la liberté du travail_ He had been through Tokyo University, but his hands were rough with the work of the rice fields. "I resent the fact that a farmer is considered to be socially inferior to a townsman," he said. "I am going to show that the income of a farmer who is diligent and skilful may equal that of a Minister of State. I also propose to build a fine house, not out of vanity, but in order to show that an honest farmer can do as well for himself as a townsman." When I asked the speaker to tell me something about himself he went on: "My father was a follower of a pupil of the great Ninomiya. Schools of frugal living and high ideals were common in the Tokugawa period.[14] The object sought was the education of heart and spirit. At night when I was in bed my father used to kneel by me,[15] his eldest son, and say, 'When you grow big you must become a great man and distinguish our family name.' This instruction was given to me repeatedly and it went deeply into my heart." "When I became a young man," he continued, "I had two friends. We made promises to each other. One said, 'I will become the greatest scholar in Japan.' The second said, 'I will become the greatest statesman.' The third, myself, said, 'I will be the greatest rice grower in this country.' If we all succeeded we were to build beautiful houses and invite each other to them.