Philosopher. He graduated from the First Higher School and Department of Philosophy at the Imperial University in 1896. He later became a professor at the First Higher School and published a philosophy textbook, Tetsugaku Gairon (Introduction to Philosophy), in 1900. In 1906 he became a professor at the Kyoto Imperial University. He studied in Europe from 1907 until 1909 and he started to serve as a professor at the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1914. In 1919 he formed the political group Reimei-kai with Yoshino Sakuzo and Fukuda Tokuzo and joined the Taisho Democracy movement. Along with Soda Kiichiro, he supported culturalism. He was elected as a member of the House of Peers in 1946.