The Ohara family laid the foundations for Kurashiki’s development, connecting it to the present day.
Ohara Magosaburo, the seventh head of the family, served as president of KURABO INDUSTRIES LTD. (Kurabo) while also carrying out numerous philanthropic activities using the wealth he had earned through business.
Facilities such as the Ohara Museum of Art and Kurashiki Central Hospital were also established as part of these activities.
The “69th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture,” to be held on Friday, July 25, 2025, traces its roots to the “Kurashiki Sunday Lectures” founded by Magosaburo in 1902. It has been passed down to the present day, changing its form to suit the times.
Each year, the lecture invites a diverse range of speakers from various fields and is held free of charge and open to the public.
What will this year’s lecture be about? We spoke with the organizers about what the event means to them.
The information presented here is current as of the article’s publication in July 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About the 69th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture
The “Kurashiki Sunday Lectures,” founded by Ohara Magosaburo, were carried on after his death by his eldest son, Soichiro.
After Soichiro’s death, people who shared his vision continued the lectures, changing their name and format over time while carrying them forward to the present day.
Today, the “Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yurin-kai” holds the “Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture” once a year, around late July.
The 69th lecture will be held on Friday, July 25, 2025, at the Main Hall of Kurashiki Community Center.
Former Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Kondo Seiichi is scheduled to speak on the topic “The Course of Human Civilization: Where Are We Now?”
About Yurin-kai
The “Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yurin-kai,” which organizes the lecture, is an organization made up primarily of companies, groups, and individuals connected to the Ohara family.
“Yurin” comes from a passage in the Analects: “Virtue is never alone; it always has neighbors.”
This was a saying favored by Ohara Magosaburo. In modern terms, it means, “A virtuous person is never truly alone; people who understand and empathize with them will always appear.”
The Ohara family’s former residence, “Yurin-so Villa,” opposite the Ohara Museum of Art, was also named after this saying.
Its main activities include organizing this lecture and conducting social education activities, as well as operating “Ohara House Katalyzer,” which introduces the history of the Ohara family, including Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro.
Ahead of the lecture ～ Interview with Mushiake, Representative Director of Yurin-kai
Ahead of this year’s lecture, we spoke with Mushiake Masaru, Representative Director of the Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yurin-kai.
Could you tell us about Yurin-kai’s history?
Mushiake (honorifics omitted)
Keidokai, the predecessor of Yurin-kai, was established as a voluntary organization in 1943. It was reorganized as Yurin-kai in 1969. Based at the Ohara Museum of Art, it was responsible for a range of activities related to organizing lectures.
I previously served as deputy director of the Ohara Museum of Art. At that time, too, I carried out activities on a small scale with just one staff member.
Later, with the aim of honoring Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro and advancing related activities beyond the lectures, it was reorganized in April 2010 as the General Incorporated Foundation Yurin-kai.
From then on, we broadened our activities, beginning with organizing old documents and materials passed down in the Ohara family and holding research presentations.
In April 2015, it became the Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yurin-kai, and a plan was proposed to open the former Ohara family residence, which had been closed to the public (now “Ohara House Katalyzer”).
Renovation work was carried out, and in April 2018 it opened to the public as “Ohara House Katalyzer.”
Today, our activities have two main pillars: organizing the “Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture” and operating “Ohara House Katalyzer” and conducting related educational and cultural activities.
Could you tell us about the history of the lecture?
Mushiake
The lecture originated with the “Kurashiki Sunday Lectures,” which Ohara Magosaburo began in 1902.
Ohara Magosaburo began these as part of social education, inviting a diverse range of speakers from various fields to Kurashiki so that the public could attend for free. A total of 76 lectures were held by 1925.
The speakers were an impressive lineup. Records show that figures such as Okuma Shigenobu and Nitobe Inazo, whose names now appear in history textbooks, took the stage.
After Ohara Magosaburo died in 1943, the lectures were temporarily suspended, partly due to World War II.
After the war, Magosaburo’s eldest son, Ohara Soichiro, revived the lectures in 1955 under the name “Ohara Keido Memorial Lecture.”
“Keido” was named after Ohara Magosaburo’s pen name, a name he used in addition to his real name.
Like Magosaburo’s “Kurashiki Sunday Lectures,” the event invited a diverse range of speakers from various fields to Kurashiki, and has been held once a year ever since.
Soichiro died in 1968, after which Yurin-kai took over the lecture activities.
Today, the “Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture” is held around July 27 each year, in commemoration of Magosaburo’s birthday, July 28, 1880, and Soichiro’s death on July 27, 1968.
Including the years when it was known as the Ohara Keido Memorial Lecture, this year marks the 69th installment of this long-running lecture series.
Are there any lectures that particularly stand out in your memory?
Mushiake
All the lectures have been interesting and memorable, but the ones in 2006, 2010, and 2016 stand out in particular.
I clearly remember that when architect Ando Tadao spoke at the 2006 lecture, so many people came that they could not all fit in the hall.
Ando is a renowned architect who gives lectures frequently and has many fans, so many people came from far away to attend.
At the 2010 lecture, we welcomed Dr. Yoshino Akira of Asahi Kasei, who would later receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019. He spoke on “The Development of Lithium-Ion Secondary Batteries and Future Prospects,” the subject that led to his Nobel Prize.
The lecture came about because Asahi Kasei Corporation has a business site in Mizushima, which gave us a connection to Dr. Yoshino.
At the 2016 lecture, Dr. Kawaguchi Junichiro, who served as project manager for the asteroid probe “Hayabusa” at JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), took the stage.
He spoke about the Hayabusa project under the title “Taking on the Great Voyage of the Solar System.”
How do you choose the speakers?
Mushiake
As noted on Yurin-kai’s website, we have welcomed speakers from a wide range of fields, including both the humanities and the natural sciences.
Each year, Yurin-kai selects several candidates and ranks them in order of priority before contacting them.
We use this system because many candidates are unavailable when we approach them.
Could you tell us about this year’s speaker?
Mushiake
Kondo Seiichi, who will speak this year, graduated from the University of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He went on to build a career as a diplomat, serving in positions including Ambassador to the Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO.
He then served as Commissioner for Cultural Affairs from 2010 to 2013, and is currently President of the International Professional University of Fashion.
He also serves as Representative Director of the “Humanities Knowledge SupportForum.”
The Humanities Knowledge Support Forum was founded by Ohara Kenichiro, who also serves as its co-representative director.
The forum’s directors also include Fukuoka Shinichi and Nakajima Sachiko, among many others active in a range of fields. They are involved in the theme projects (Signature Pavilions) of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, which is currently being held (as of July 2025).
Although Kondo Seiichi was not directly involved with Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, the title of this talk, “The Course of Human Civilization—Where Are We Now?,” is also related to the Expo’s theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” and we look forward to hearing an interesting talk.
What kinds of people would you like to attend?
Mushiake
This is a lecture open to the public, so we hope many people of all ages and genders will attend.
In particular, we would like young people who will shape the future to attend.
With the cooperation of the speakers, we hold discussions with local young people from 4 to 5 p.m. before the lecture begins.
What kind of discussions are these?
Mushiake
Last year (2024), the speaker was Miura Atsushi, director of the Ohara Museum of Art, so young people, mainly members of the art club at Shikiseiryo High School, took part in the discussion. Professor Miura is professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, so the students seemed very excited at the prospect of “talking with a University of Tokyo professor.”
The year before last (2023), the speaker was Professor Noyori Ryoji, a Nagoya University distinguished professor and Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, so many high school students, especially those preparing for entrance exams, participated in the discussion.
This year, we are planning a discussion between Professor Kondo and students from Okayama University. I’m looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.
From the Writer
The author attended this lecture for the first time last year and contributed an article to Kurashiki Tocotoco.
After attending the lecture in person, what left a strong impression on me was how in Kurashiki, a regional city, they have continued to invite prominent figures from various fields and hold lectures for many years.
As the saying goes, “Virtue is not alone; it is sure to have neighbors,” the lofty ideal of “social education activities” championed by father and son Ohara Magosaburo and Ohara Soichiro has transcended time, inspiring many people to understand and share in it, and has been passed down to the present day.
With these thoughts in mind, I hope many people of all ages will attend on July 25.
This lecture is open to all, with no reservation required, so why not drop by on your way home from work or school?
69th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture: “The Course of Human Civilization: Where Are We Now?” Information
| Name | 69th Ohara Magosaburo and Soichiro Memorial Lecture: “The Course of Human Civilization: Where Are We Now?” |
|---|---|
| Date | Friday, July 25, 2025, 6:30 p.m.–8:00 p.m. |
| Location | Kurashiki Community Center, Main Hall |
| Admission (tax included) | Free |
| Website | Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yurin-kai |
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