新渡戸稲造
Ishiguro was born in Tokyo. His father, Ishiguro Tadanori was the Commander-in-chief of the medical corps of Imperial Japanese Army, and president of the Japan Red Cross. He graduated from the predecessor to Kagoshima University before obtaining a degree in law from Tokyo Imperial University in 1908. On graduation, he was accepted into the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. Active in literary circles, he was a member of a coterie established by Nitobe Inazō, with Yanagida Kunio as one of its members. In 1914, the ministry sent him to Europe to study agricultural policies, and he rose to the position of chief of the Agricultural Policy Bureau in 1919. In 1924, he turned to agricultural reform by publishing a survey on tenant farming practices and sponsoring a bill for mediation in tenant farmer disputes, and for the creation of medical cooperatives in rural areas. He then served as director of the Silk Bureau. In 1931, he was promoted to undersecretary of Agriculture. However, he retired from the ministry in 1934, subsequently serving as president of a Rural Welfare Association.