strength of the population was rooted in the cultivation of the peo-ple (i.e. morality). In the West Sunday schools cultivated morality and supported people’s way of life. For this reason he believed there was a need in Japan for Morality Churches so the Imperial Rescript on Education could be spread to the people and interpreted for them. Through this people could learn patience, diligence, benevolence, independence, and freedom. He thought the churches should be set up by supporters from towns and villages and held on Sundays in temples and schools, with teachers or priests as lecturers. The idea was to include not only lectures but also other activities such as singing. The Morality Church Magazine (later retitled Morality) was published the following year to launch this nationwide movement. However, the Russo-Japanese War broke out at the same time, and according to TAKASHIMA Beihō, a graduate of the Philosophy Academy, this meant the publication did not produce the results for which Enryō had hoped. This, however, did not mean that Enryō gave up. As we have seen, he was only forty-eight years old when he retired from the school in 1906 after incorporating it as a foundation. This shows how early he retired, even in those days when it was believed that “a lifetime is sixty years.” Returning to his role as a “simple educator,” he began to dedicate himself fulltime to his nationwide lecture tours in order to promote the Morality Church movement on his own with the aim of shaping an ideal nation and society. 159
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