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Hōtoku
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Key People:
Ninomiya Sontoku
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religious movement
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Hōtoku

Japanese religious movement
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Hōtoku, semireligious movement among Japanese peasants initiated in the 19th century by Ninomiya Sontoku, who was known as the “peasant sage.” He combined an eclectic, nonsectarian ethic of cooperation and mutual help with practical economic measures such as crop rotation and famine relief. Hōtoku (literally “Repay the Indebtedness”) emphasized the debt owed by man to gods, nature, ancestors, emperor, and parents. This debt could be repaid only through conformity with the cosmic order, which was equated with moral sincerity, and by economic frugality. Ninomiya Sontoku’s teachings were disseminated by his followers and played an important part in shaping 19th- and 20th-century Japanese popular morality.