Characteristics of Political Thoughts

In the case of discussing the political thoughts of kokugaku, usually its point has tended to focus on the relationship between bakumatsu kokugaku and Meiji Restoration. In this regard, while various discussions have taken placed from prewar days to this day, discussion of prewar days and post war days largely differ. If we simplify and sum it up, in the academic world of prewar days, kokugaku was evaluated that it actively contributed to the Meiji Restoration more or less, whereas in the academic world of postwar days, kokugaku viewed that it hardly contributed to the Meiji Restoration. However, the author of this chapter, in the past, regarded these discussions as rough, and discussed how greatly different between the political thoughts from Nobunaga to Takamasa and the political thoughts of following scholars of classical literature in detail (Matsu’ura Mitsubnobu, “Bakumatsu kokugakusha no henkaku shisō,” Kikan nihon shisō shi, vol.43, 1994). 

In short, the author’s conclusion is that the political thoughts of kokugaku from Norinaga to Takamasa do not largely go beyond the framework of taisei inin ron (the theory that political power of the Imperial Court was entrusted to the Shogunate by the Imperial Court), but scholars of kokugaku of later generations went beyond this framework and crystalized the thoughts of overthrow of the Shogunate. For details, please refer to the article of the previous.