 Regarding the ancient past, Atsutane made a number of claims that went well beyond the near-paradisiac constructions of Kamo no Mabuchi and Motoori Norinaga, including perfect health (and ironic invention of the presumably unneeded Way of Medicine); an ancient native script prior to the incorporation of Chinese characters; population in ancient times by a race of Japanese giants; and the argument that the rest of the world was fashioned from inferior materials leftover after the pristine creation of Japan. At their worst these expressions of superiority became unsavory racialized critiques of Others who now included Europeans.