Person

Kobayashi Torasaburo

1828–1877 · 19th century

Kobayashi Torasaburo was a senior retainer of the Nagaoka domain in Japan. After the domain's defeat in the Boshin War, it received a hundred sacks of rice as relief in 1870, and he used them to fund a school rather than distribute them to its hungry samurai. The story of the 'hundred sacks of rice' became a famous lesson about investing in education.

Kobayashi Torasaburo
Image: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Nagaoka Domain

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kobayashi Torasaburo. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kobayashi-torasaburo
MLA
“Kobayashi Torasaburo.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kobayashi-torasaburo. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kobayashi Torasaburo.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kobayashi-torasaburo.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kobayashi Torasaburo’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kobayashi-torasaburo (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻