A businessman who was a friend of Noguchi’s wrote this about visiting him in the hospital. “One day, after his illness had become severe, I received word that he wanted to see me. I had met him now and then through business over the years, and I always had nothing but the deepest respect for him. This last meeting left a deep impression on me. Noguchi was happy to see me, and told me the following though he struggled to speak.
He said, ‘I decided to establish a research institute like you did. Up until now, I worked hard to manage companies on my own initiative. I saved up money so as to not to trouble the stockholders or fire any employees if things went bad. Fortunately, however, all my businesses are doing well, and I recently discovered a promising mine on Hainan Island. But I no longer need to be responsible for that. I don’t want to leave my assets to my children. And since I have no need for it anymore, I have thought about how to use my roughly 30 million yen (currently roughly 30 billion yen) in assets. It may be an outdated way of thinking, but my final goal is to show my gratitude. Since I prospered in the chemical industry, I want to donate my estate towards that. And since I had success on the Korean Peninsula, I want to make a scholarship fund for the people there.’
“Deeply moved, I extended my sincere gratitude to him on behalf of the people, and when I tried to leave, worried that a long talk would be hard on him, he kept me from leaving, saying, ‘I want to get well as soon as I can and go to Hainan Island’ among other things, before finally saying, ‘I have one job that I really want to do. I want to stop the flow of water at the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, build a large hydroelectric power plant there, use that power to build a large fertilizer plant, and provide a large amount of cheap fertilizer to Chinese farmers. Even today, they are highly productive without using fertilizer, so we can maybe solve world hunger all at once if they use enough fertilizer. I think we may be able to get by without wars if food is no longer a concern.’ I gained even more respect and admiration for Noguchi as I heard his earnest wish to contribute towards world peace through his own efforts as an entrepreneur.”
Later, The Noguchi Institute was established to conduct scientific research in the chemical industry with 25 million yen (currently 25 billion yen) of Noguchi’s personal 30 million yen estate, greatly contributing to scientific research in acetylene, ion-exchange resin, wood chemistry, the development of forest resources, and more.
The Noguchi Institute, Tokyo
The remaining 5 million yen (currently 5 billion yen) was donated to The Korean Scholarship Fund. Unfortunately, the Korean Peninsula was split into two countries following the Korean War. Nevertheless, the fund continues with half of its directors from the North and half from the South, and scholarships have been given to nearly 40,000 students so far.
There have been many people who were called wealthy both in ancient times and today, but we don’t often hear examples of people who offer up their entire estate to contribute to society. You can sense Noguchi’s noble, strong will as he earnestly pursued business, going beyond nationality, ethnicity, ideas, and creeds.