“As a young man my will was not in study and though I used my wits I did many stupid things and the results were bad.  Then I became a little awakened and for two years I studied at night with the primary school teacher.  After that I thought to myself in secret, ’Shall I become a wise man in this village, or, by diligently farming, a rich man?’ That was my spiritual problem.  Then all my family gathered together and consulted and decided[49] that it would suit the family better if I were to become a rich man, and I also agreed.  To accomplish that aim I increased my area under cultivation and worked hard day and night.  I cut down the cryptomeria at my homestead and planted in their stead mulberries and persimmons.  And I slowly changed my dry land into rice fields (making it therefore more valuable).  The soil I got I heaped up at the homestead for eighteen years until I had 28,000 cubic feet.  I was able then to raise the level of my house which had become damp and covered with mould.  The increase of my cultivated area and of the yield per tan and the improvement of my house and the practice of economy were the delight of my life.  I felt grateful to my ancestors who gave me such a strong body.  Sometimes I kept awake all night talking with my wife about the goodness of my ancestors.  Also when in bed I planned a compact homestead.  I once read a Japanese poem, ’What a joy to be born in this peaceful reign and to be favoured by ploughs and horses.’ (Most Japanese farming is done without either horses or ploughs.) It went deeply into my heart.  Also I heard from the school teacher of four loves:  love of State, love of Emperor, love of teacher and love of parent.  I have been much favoured by those loves.  I also heard the doctrines of Ninomiya:  sincerity, diligence, moderate living, unselfishness.  I felt it a great joy to live remembering those doctrines.  I also went to the prefectural experiment station and studied fruit growing and my spirit was much expanded.  I returned again to the station and the expert talked to me very earnestly.  I asked for a special variety of persimmon.  The expert sent to Gifu prefecture for it.  I planted the tree and made its top into six grafts.  It bore fruit and many passers-by envied it.  Two years after that I grafted five hundred trees and sold the grafted stock.”

Several villages sent to the exhibition statistics of great interest.  One village set forth the changes which had taken place in the social status of its inhabitants[50].  Some communities were represented by statements of their hours of labour[51].  One small community’s tables showed how many of its inhabitants were “diligent people,” how many “average workers” and how many “other people[52].”  A county agricultural association had painstakingly collected information not only about the work done in a year[53] and the financial returns obtained by three typical farmers but about the way in which they spent what they earned.[54]