Kome Hyappyō

This historical anecdote symbolizes the idea that patience and perseverance in the present will lead to profit in the future.

The neighboring Mineyama Domain (now the town of Maki in Nishikanbara District, Niigata) provided assistance in the form of one hundred sacks of rice.

Kobayashi prevailed and the rice was sold to finance the construction of the Kokkan Gakko school.

This is the modern-day elementary school (grades 1–6) Sakanoue, which continues teaching the Kome Hyappyo history and tradition.

This ideal of enduring pain today for the sake of a better tomorrow, long the guiding spirit for the people of Nagaoka, gained national attention in 2001 when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi quoted the story in one of his inaugural speeches.