This article was published in the first issue of the Dokuritsu Hyōron January 1, 1893.
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This work is the product of my own unaided effort.
I intend to discuss Marquis Ito and Count Okuma with the same mindset I apply to Yoritomo and Ieyasu, and to evaluate the philosophers of the Imperial University with the same impartiality I bring to the Sophists of ancient Greece. I am a man who seeks no worldly fame or glory; I am content to live as a private citizen in times of peace, finding my pleasure in the unfettered expression of my thoughts. My aim is to offer impartial commentary to the world, discussing the great figures of the present day with the same cool-headedness and boldness used to analyze the heroes of the past.
I do not care to discuss politics on a day-to-day basis. I wish to view politics only through the lens of major policies, those critical measures that shape the destiny of the nation. We maintain that the foundation of national statecraft must be a political science rooted in the philosophies and ideals born of the minds of an enlightened citizenry. It is upon this point that we wish to focus our attention. Matters such as the rise and fall of minor administrations or the shifting alliances of small factions are of no particular concern to us.
I will pay deep attention to philosophy and religion. Current trends in ethics and morality are matters I earnestly wish to study. For the nation can only make steady progress based on solid aspirations. I do not publish this journal to support any particular party, school of thought, or sect. I am no enemy of any. I wish to pay homage to all good. I entrust the fate of this magazine to the righteous hearts of the Japanese people. As long as the people demand faithful criticism and I remain faithful as a man of letters, this magazine has the right to continue existing in the present day.
