일본 報德社의 전개와 현재의 활동에 대한 연구 - ‘報德서미트’와 ‘報德大會’를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Houtokusya(報德社) has its origin from a mutual assistance meeting made by Sontoku Ninomiya (hereinafter referred to as Ninomiya), an agricultural politician in the late Edo period. After Ninomiya's death, it flourished very much in the Meiji period owe to the effort of his disciples. Since then, the headquarters of Houtokusya which had been set in each region during the Daisho period, merged into DainipponHoutokusya. Houtokusya contributed to the establishment of the emperor system of Japan in modern times by helping to make Ninomiya a national model figure. Especially in the Showa era, it played a major role as a national edification organization to reinforcing militarism. In addition to the regional development, the relief for the poor, and the rural development support projects, Houtokusya was deeply involved in political education, social culture, customs correction, and morality cultivation in Japan, and tried to idealize the "Japanese national image" through Ninomiya's idea. Although the application method becomes different, it still plays a role as a medium for spreading and reproducing Ninomiya's thoughts as a social enlightenment message in school education and society. The current activities of "Houtoku Summit" and "nationwide Houtoku synod" are such an example. We can see that "Houtoku Summit" and "Nationwide Houtoku Synod" tried to restore the humanity of nurturing virtue which is insufficient in the present era by "creating an attractive region" and "creating an attractive human image" in tune with Houtoku thought. Furthermore, we can confirm their future orientation in that they make effort to connect Ninomiya's ideology of Suizyou(推讓), IchienYuugou(一圓融合), and SekisyouIdai(積小爲大) to world peace, distribution of wealth, and global environmental issues.