This study aims at clarifying features of Ninomiya Kinzirou's illustrations in Hikihuda and the national edification function of Ninomiya Kinzirou's Hikihuda as well as showing the development process of Hikihuda in Japan.
Unlike general Hikihuda that stimulates purchasing needs about products and advertises shops, there are some characteristics in Ninomiya's illustrations in Hikihuda.
First, Ninomiya's illustrations in Hikihuda always show Ninomiya as his childhood figure. It bases on stories of the period called Ninomiya Kinzirou in 『Houtokuki』 and accords with the reason that Ninomiya is described as his childhood figure in Syuusin-kyoukasyo(a moral textbook of modern times in Japan) of elementary schools.
Second, among Ninomiya's illustrations in Hikihuda the one that he walks reading a book shows a formulaic pattern in which he is carrying firewood on his back while reading. This type accords with a formulaic type of Ninomiya Kinzirou statue set up at the ground of every elementary school. In this case, Ninomiya's Hikihuda and statues represent the symbolic meaning of “reading a book while walking and carrying firewood on his back” in different spaces: one is the space of real life; the other is the space of education.
Third, in addition to his images carrying firewood on his back while reading, Ninomiya's Hikihuda shows illustrations of Ninomiya who was introduced in ethics textbook(Syuusin-kyoukasyo) of modern Japan or Ninomiya's shrine as background pictures.
In conclusion, Ninomiya's illustrations in Hikihuda represented the symbolic meaning of Ninomiya's thrift and labor thought and showed some factors plainly that used Ninomiya as a national role model of modern times in Japan, describing Ninomiya as the best model in Syuusin-kyoukasyo of elementary schools, setting up his bronze statues all over the country, and deifying him in his shrine. Ninomiya in leaflets called Hikihuda functioned as a vehicle to carry out edification function which the country would like beyond a simply function of leaflets that advertises products of shops.