Yokoyama Oboku (1855-1939), whose real name was Matakichi, was a young activist member of the political clique called Rishisha working in the democratic rights movement, and a founder of the Kochi Commercial High School.
Although as a child he was initially quite mischievous, at the age of 13 he decided to study the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism.
And, after two trips to Tokyo, he became aware of the current state of affairs and joined the Civil Liberties Movement.
As part of a political campaign called Sandaijikenpaku Undo, protesting against strict new regulations for the preservation of law and order, he was sent to prison, saying, "At a time when the nation is in danger, even if I become a criminal under the law, I cannot become an exile of the country”.
After the promulgation of the Constitution, he was released from prison and took up an important position at Kochi City Hall, where he worked hard to establish the Kochi Commercial High School.
He was asked to become the first headmaster of the school and established a unique school culture.
His Chinese poems are well known both in and outside the Kochi prefecture and have been preserved in the form of "Collection of Oboku Poems".
This monument was built by the Tukinamiginsha, a literary coterie made up of a follower of his poetry, and on the front of the monument his poems are inscribed in his own handwriting.
Built in 1938 by the Oboku's Poetry Monument Society, and the number of volunteers of Kochi Commercial School.
