After the Meiji Restoration, he was selected as a member of the Iwakura Mission and travelled abroad (under the patronage of the Justice Ministry) to study philosophy, history, and French literature in France, where he lived from 1871 until 1874.

In 1881, he helped to start the daily newspaper, “Oriental Free Press” (東洋自由新聞, Tōyō Jiyū Shinbun), through which he propagated Western democratic ideas.

The newspaper continued to attack factionalism and corruption in government, and to agitate for revision of the unequal treaties and the rapid implementation of an elected national assembly.

In 1887, Nakae was sentenced to exile from Tokyo under the Peace Preservation Ordinance [ja] for publishing critical articles about the Meiji oligarchy.

[1] During the 1890 General Election, Nakae successfully ran for a seat in the lower house of the Diet of Japan from the Osaka 4th District.