 In the twelfth month of 1867 (Keio 3), Harumichi issued his Humble Petition of a Fool (Kenkin sengo) just after the imperial court declared the “Restoration of Imperial Rule” (Ōsei fukko). This seminal treatise is a comprehensive Kokugaku prospectus on the politics of restoring imperial politics, calling for a revival of ancient government practices. Harumichi begins by declaring the Tokugawa regime’s return of political authority to the imperial court to be the grandest event in over 600 years since the establishment of the first samurai government in the Kamakura shogunate of the late twelfth century. He then asserts three principles for imperial governance: the “rites” (saishi) to worship gods and ancestors as did the ancient sage kings of China; the “benevolent government” (jinsei) that cares for the people like foremost “treasures” as practiced from ancient times according to the decree of the Imperial Ancestral Gods; and the “authority” (ibu) to protect loyal subjects and to quell those who dare to resist.