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Kinjiro Ninomiya was born in present Odawara city, Kanagawa pre. in 1787.His parents'family owned large land but was ruined when he was bery young.
Moreover his parents died one after another, so that he experienced an
extremely poor life. However he made every effort and brought a status of a large landowner to his family again when he was 30.
He ended up in charge of restoring present Ninomiyamachi, Tochigi pre., because of a high opinion about his ability.
He contributed to rehabiliate farm villages in today's Tochigi pre. for 30
and some years until he died in 1856, the last days of Tokugawa shogunate.
The story of Kinjiro Ninomiya was taken up in the prewar textbook and his statues were built in elementary schools. Most of his statues are figured as a poor boy studying by reading a book with firewood on his back. It represents he is studying while working.
But now his story and his statues cut a poor figure.
