Hiroshi Koshiba
Koshiba Hiroshi was one of the founders of the Japanese Scouting movement.
He graduated from Tsuwano Elementary School. He entered Himeji Junior High School, a state school run by Hyogo Prefecture, but dropped out due to family reasons.
In 1903, he became a student at Shimane Normal School.
In 1905, he received a full Elementary School Teacher's licence, and became a teacher at Tsuwano Elementary School.
In 1907, he went to Tokyo, and worked at Akasaka Jinjo High School. Together with his colleagues, Hasunuma Monzō and Iso Kikuma, he participated in the Shūyōdan movement.
In 1909, he started the youth branch of the Shuyodan. This group received support from, among others, Kurushima Takehiko, Kishibe Fukuo and Amano Kijihiko, and held 61 meetings in six years, before being disbanded. It is reported that meetings consisted of events such as readings of children's stories and inspirational and improving stories, singing, excursions and group training, and were always extremely popular.
On October 7, 1913, Hasunuma Monzō and Uryū Kisaburō had a discussion about youth education with Japan's ambassador to Russia Motono Ichirō, where Motono explained in detail about the Boy Scout principles and organization in Europe. They were greatly impressed, and told Koshiba how wonderful this organization was.
Koshiba immediately set to work on forming a youth education group, founding the Tokyo Shōnengun.
This group's first excursion was to the temple known as Mejiro Fudōson to visit the grave of Aoki Kon'yō, and dig for imo potatoes.
In 1920, he participated in the First World Scout Jamboree in England, together with Shimoda Toyomatsu and Richard Suzuki.
On April 13, 1921, he reorganized the Shūyōdan Yōnenbu to form the Tokyo Shōnengun. This was the first youth group based on the British Boy Scout training methods to be founded in Japan.
On June 19, 1925, he died in his Tokyo home of heart failure, aged 42.
