 Hirata Atsutane hailed from Japan’s northeast and moved to Edo in 1795 at age 19. He had not even heard of Motoori Norinaga until two years after his death, but his introduction to Norinaga’s thought so moved him that two years after that he was admitted to Norinaga’s school, which was being run by Norinaga’s son Haruniwa. Throughout his future career Atsutane distinguished himself from his more philologically oriented forebears in Kokugaku by seeking verification for his views in the broadest range of places, including Confucian and even Christian sources, which he disguised by making them appear Shinto-based. Atsutane even sought the testimony of those who claimed astral travel, reincarnation, and supernatural pedigree in support of his understandings. This can be understood as his effort to universalize Shinto, which he styled True Shinto (makoto no shintō) by representing it as the fountainhead from which derivative and inferior foreign doctrines later emerged. This xenophobia together with his vast array of subjects of inquiry ranging from spiritual matters and kami worship to folklore likely contributed to the popularity of his teachings which he intended “to touch a person’s heart” (from Kodō taii, HAZ: vol. 1, ch.1, 15). 