ABSTRACT
The Kyochokai was the first agency established under the auspices of the Japanese government that had labour and social problems as its principal, or more accurately, its sole concern. The Kyochokai was active in a variety of other social policy programmes as well. One of the most notable was its work in the settlement house movement. As in the case of labour exchanges, settlement houses were not a product of the post-First World War period. Japan’s first real settlement house was established in March 1897 by the Congregational Mission in Japan. Tatsuno hoped that by centring on the ideals, the educational programmes offered by the house would contribute to stabilizing society and breaking the cycle of poverty and despair that characterized Tokyo’s urban ghettos. Social education was the principal task of the Zenrinkan and other settlement houses. The person in charge of the house and of promoting the values of social solidarity and industrial harmony was one Tatsuno Sadaichi.
