On Charitable Enterprise in Europe and America

Translator’s Note:  The essays in  Jotoku ronsō was intended for young women, and the essays are written in what was then simple and direct language. Other topics in the volume include education, literature and art .  The cream of late Meiji intellectual society contributed, including Okuma Shigenobu, Masaki Naohiko (head of Tokyo School of FIne Arts), and Mizukuri Genpachi (historian of the Western World).  Shibusawa’s contribution, although appearing to be a simple travelogue, offers insight into his perception as philanthropy as a natural outgrowth of business.  He also touches on many debates about social welfare that continue until this day, including the effect of poverty on crime, whether prisons should be about punishment or reform and whether responsibility for poverty lies in the the individual or society.