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Chikuro Hiroike (1866-1938) is known today as the founder of Reitaku University, and of the Institute of Moralogy (a Japanese Public Interest Incorporated Foundation). Moralogy is the technical term which Hiroike coined for his "new science which is chiefly devoted to a comparative study of conventional morality and supreme morality with respect to their principles, substance and content, but which at the same time aims at a scientific demonstration of the effects of their respective practices" (Hiroike, 2002, Vol. I, p. 63). He was convinced that this allowed Moralogy to establish "a definite method of perfecting the supreme character of the individual man, and consequently a definite method regarding moral education" (Hiroike, 2002, Vol. I, p. 48).
From the time of its creation, then, moralogy was very much concerned with moral education and character building, and recent trends in moral education of our country have created renewed interest in it. For example, in elementary and junior high schools, from 2018 and 2019 respectively, the teaching of morality as "a special subject" is to be officially required, and this has meant that increasing attention is being paid to the activities of the two moralogy-based institutions mentioned.
Their influence is not confined exclusively to our country, though. The Research Center for Moral Science that forms part of the Institute of Moralogy has already hosted two international conferences, bringing together researchers from all over the world to discuss the results of their work on ethics and morals. Particular mention should be made of the Second International Conference on Moral Science in 2009, the theme of which was "The Theory and Practice of Ethics and Morality- An Evaluation of Chikuro Hiroike's Dedication to Moralogy." Distinguished specialists in ethics and morality from eight countries were present. The specialists included Bhuvan Chandel, Anne Higgins-D'Allessandro, Michael Palencia-Roth, Marvin W. Berkowitz, Brian Gates, and Herménégilde Rwantabagu. They met with eminent scholars from Japan to examine the significance of moralogy and the activities of Chikuro Hiroike from a variety of perspectives (Iwasa & Kitagawa, 2011).
Reitaku University, and in particular its Center for Moral Science and Education, also enjoys extensive academic and educational collaborative contacts with overseas educational institutions. These include the Center for Character and Social Responsibility at Boston University (one of the...