was one of the founders of the Japanese Scouting

Scout Association of Japan

The is the major Scouting organization of Japan. Starting as boys only, the organization was known as the Boy Scouts of Japan from 1922 until 1971, and as Boy Scouts of Nippon from 1971 to 1995, when it became coeducational in all sections, leading to neutral naming...

 movement. He was born in Tsuwano-chō in Shimane Prefecture

Shimane Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to...

.

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

Normal school

A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

.

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, and , he participated in the movement.

In 1909, he started the . This group received support from, among others, , and , 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 had a discussion about youth education with Japan's ambassador

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)

The of Japan is the Cabinet member responsible for Japanese foreign policy and the chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Since the end of the American occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the Cabinet, as Japan's economic interests have long relied on...

 to Russia

Japanese-Russian relations

Relations between Russia and Japan are a continuation of Japanese-Soviet relations. Relations between the two nations are hindered primarily by a dispute over the Kuril Islands, a dispute that is long-running, but rarely gets serious enough to concern other nations...

 , where Motono explained in detail about the Boy Scout

Scouting

Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

 principles and organization in Europe

WOSM-European Region

The European Scout Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a satellite office in Brussels, Belgium, which focuses more on external relations and partnerships; and with some office staff...

. 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 Youth Army").
This group's first excursion was to the temple known as to visit the grave of , and dig for imo

IMO

The three-letter acronym IMO may refer to:* International Mathematical Olympiad* International Maritime Organization** IMO ship identification number, unique identity numbers issued to seacraft * International Meteorological Organization...

 potatoes.

In 1920, he participated in the First World Scout Jamboree

World Scout Jamboree

The World Scout Jamboree is a Scouting jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17....

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, together with Shimoda Toyomatsu

Shimoda Toyomatsu

, born in Iwanai District, Hokkaidō, was Japan's first Chief Scout, active at the dawn of the Japanese Scouting movement.His father, , participated in the organization from the Kanezawa han, which developed land to make it suitable for habitation.After graduating from , he worked as an officer in...

 and Richard Suzuki.

On April 13, 1921, he reorganized the Shūyōdan Yōnenbu to form the Tokyo Shōnengun ("Tokyo Youth Army"). 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.

Sources

Much of this article was translated from the equivalent article in the Japanese Wikipedia, as referenced on October 27, 2006.